Health and Family Welfare Minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak on Tuesday told the State Assembly that a technical committee led by the DMET would inquire into the Cuttack Sishu Bhawan deaths and report to the Government in 10 days, and on the basis of the report action would be taken against anybody found guilty.
The Minister said this in a statement in the House as per the direction of the Speaker.
Speaker Niranjan Pujari had given the direction after members cutting across party lines expressed deep concern over the serial deaths at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Post-Graduate Institute of Paediatrics (SVPPGIP), popularly called Sishu Bhawan, and demanded a statement from the Health Minister during Zero Hour.
Raising the issue, BJD member Ranendra Pratap Swain sought a status report from Health Minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak.
He said the House should know from the Minister the reasons of infants’ deaths every day.
BJP members KV Singh Deo, Rabinarayan Nayak and Bibhuti Bhushan Harichandan, Congress MlAs Chiranjib Biswal and Naba Kishore Das, BJD’s Pravat Ranjan Biswal, Dr Pramod Kumar Mallick and Priyadarhi Mishra too expressed concerns and wanted a statement from the Minister.
As many as 30 infants have died in a week’s time and the issue must be addressed, some members stated.
Earlier, the Minister had discussed the issue with officials on two reports submitted by the CDMO and the ADM, Cuttack at the State Secretariat, sources said.