File picture of mob outside the special newborn care unit of VSS Hospital in Burla

Bhubaneswar, July 24: The state government today constituted four teams to find out the “root cause” behind the deaths of nine newborns at VSS Medical College and Hospital in Burla last week.

The government formed the teams after it succumbed to pressure from the Opposition parties. The teams have been asked to submit their reports within a week.

Health minister Damodar Rout said: “The teams will visit the parents of the victims and record the details such as the health status of the babies at the time of their birth and the time when they were referred to the hospital. The teams will also find out whether the mothers were covered under the Janani Express scheme (hospitalisation of pregnant mothers) and Mamata scheme (ante-natal check up) and whether the health personnel attended to them.”

An official committee headed by director of medical education and training had given a clean chit to the doctors and para medics of VSS Medical College and Hospital. The committee had found “no deficiency in duty or treatment.”

Rout and health secretary P.K. Mohapatra had described the deaths as a “coincidence”, following which Opposition leaders had demanded chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s resignation.

The Opposition’s plea was that the state government had two ambitious schemes to provide health care and nutritious food to pregnant women in the state.

Senior Congress leader Narasingh Mishra said: “If the babies were malnourished and underweight, then the government has failed in implementing the central schemes to provide nutritious food to pregnant mothers.”

Reacting to the government’s announcement for appointment of four inquiry teams, Mishra today said: “In order to escape from his liabilities, the chief minister is trying to find out scapegoats so that he will fix some lowest grade officials and take credit that he has taken action.”

“Without going for further political gimmick, he should own moral responsibility,” he said. Poking holes in the earlier inquiry report BJP spokesperson Suresh Pujari had pointed out that the team did not record the statements of the parents of the victims and the post mortem of the deceased babies had not been conducted.

“The government has perhaps come to its senses,” said Pujari sarcastically.

Of the nine deceased babies, eight were referred to the VSS Medical College and Hospital from various hospitals of Balangir, Bargarh and Sonepur districts.