TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Wednesday demanded stringent action against those responsible for the death of the new mother at the Midnapore government hospital, allegedly as she was given substandard Ringer’s lactate, but swatted away the notion that it raised questions about Bengal’s healthcare.

“The life of a person is very precious.... If anyone’s negligence resulted in the death of the woman, stringent action should be taken against him or her. The action should be so stringent that there should be no recurrence of such carelessness,” Abhishek told journalists in Falta, South 24-Parganas, where he visited health camps under Sebashray, a health outreach in Diamond Harbour, his MP constituency.

Abhishek launched the outreach on January 2 through medical camps across the constituency. In the past 13 days, over three lakh people — including scores of people from other districts, including those from north Bengal — have received treatment, medical tests, and medicines, said the organisers.

While the TMC heir-apparent tried to develop a new model of micro-level healthcare delivery system, the government suffered a blow after a the woman died and three others fell critically ill after the RL solution was given to them in Midnapore on January 10.

The death raised questions about the healthcare delivery system in the state with the Opposition using it to target the government, particularly Mamata Banerjee, who is in charge of the health department.

A similar situation had arisen after the rape and murder of a junior doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9, when the Opposition parties, including the BJP and the CPM, had targeted the state health department.

Unlike the RG Kar incident during which Abhishek had been quiet for quite some time, here, he was prompt in defending the state government.

“I don’t agree that the incident in Midnapore has raised questions about the health department. You have to consider how many medical colleges were established, how many super-speciality hospitals were built, and most importantly, the Swasthya Sathi scheme after the TMC government came to power,” Abhishek told a reporter.

“If you have a fridge or a smartphone, you cannot benefit from the Union government’s Ayushman Bharat (Yojana). But with Swasthya Sathi, everyone gets health insurance benefits,” he added.

A TMC leader pointed out the contrast and said that Abhishek had distanced himself from political activities soon after the RG Kar incident, but this time, he publicly praised the state healthcare system.