After Singur fiasco, babies' death leaves chief minister red faced

Days after chief minister Mamata Banerjee did the rounds of state run-hospitals, 12 babies succumbed to death in a span of 24 hours at the government run BC Roy Hospital for Children in Kolkata, prompting public incitement and jolting the state machinery. Unofficial figures, however, put the death count at 17.

The incident has once again highlighted the pathetic condition of infrastructure in government hospitals in the state forcing the Trinamool led government to set up a two-member team for probing the incident.

Political observers feel that the situation has challenged Mamata's much hyped 'do it immediately' mantra, and the situation on ground needs more effort than mere populist politics.

Upset with the incident, the chief minister accepted that the public hospitals do not have proper infrastructure and promised action if anyone is found responsible for negligence.

"Action will be taken without considering political colour," Mamata said.

Indirectly passing the buck to the erstwhile Left government, the chief minister said that steps are being taken to revamp state's health infrastructure.