Kolar: Hailed as the best neo-natal care facility by the UNICEF, Sri Narasimharaja District Hospital in Kolar has witnessed around 33 infant deaths over the last three months and is plagued with difficulties such as lack of sufficient ventilators and shortage of doctors, says a media report.

Notably three of the deaths occurred within 24 hours on Tuesday and parents of the deceased children have alleged that negligence on the part of the hospital administration, doctors have cost them the lives of their babies. The report claims that the hospital staff at times ask the ailing infants relatives to get their own doctor to treat the baby citing shortage of doctors. Ironically the hospital, which is now being compared to the Gorakhpur hospital which saw a death of 100 children owing to lack of oxygen supply happens to fall in the home district of Health Minister K Ramesh Kumar.

However the doctors have claimed that the infant deaths occurred due to low weight, malnutrition and medical abnormalities and the charges being leveled on the hospital are rubbish.

Meanwhile, chief minister Siddaramaiah has sought a report on the tragic deaths of infants at the hospital.