In a relief to Kerala Health Minister PK Sreemathi who is under Opposition attack over infants' death in a state-run hospital in Thiruvananthapuram, the Union Health Ministry on Saturday discounted the possibility of sending a team to probe the issue.
The central ministry also expressed satisfaction over the steps taken by the state government on the issue.
Sreemathy also received strong support from her party, the CPI-M, which ruled out her resignation and criticised the direction of a local court to police to register a case against the minister and six others following the death of 38 newborn babies in the Sree Avittam Tirunal (SAT) Hospital, allegedly due to infection in the last few months.
Taking lessons from the development, the Health Department on Saturday announced a slew of measures for keeping maternity hospitals clean and hygienic and set up a 24-hour control room at SAT hospital.
Dismissing reports that the Centre was planning to send an experts' team to probe the issue, an official spokesman said Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss had talked to the minister and expressed statisfaction over the steps taken by the state.
On anguish expressed by Minister of State for Women and Child Development Renuka Choudhary over the issue, he said the minister did not intend to react.
{{/usCountry}}On anguish expressed by Minister of State for Women and Child Development Renuka Choudhary over the issue, he said the minister did not intend to react.
{{/usCountry}}Attributing political motives in the issue being hyped up, CPI-M state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan alleged that this was the result of a conspiracy involving the Congress-led Opposition UDF and a section in the Indian Medical Association (IMA).