Six infants died at the Behrampore Sadar Hospital (BSH) in Murshidabad district between Friday and Saturday.
The minister of state for health, Chandrima Bhattacharya, however, claimed on Saturday afternoon that the state government had achieved a 3% drop in the infant mortality rate since the Trinamool Congress government came to power.
The chief medical officer of health Dr. Syad Shajahan Siraj, said the paediatric unit of the hospital lacked the requisite infrastructure but claimed that had little to do with the deaths. “The babies were suffering from pneumonia, breathing problems, and low birth-weight. Most of them were brought in at the last moment. The ratio of infant deaths and admissions at the hospital is not abnormal,” he said.