Over four days last week, 11 infants had died in Tamil Nadu's Dharmapuri.
The Tamil Nadu government blames last week's death of 11 infants in Dharmapuri district hospital on malnourished mothers, underweight newborns and late referrals. But a reality check by NDTV found out that most mothers from this backward district do not get the Rs 12,000 maternity benefit on time.
50 per cent of expectant mothers in Dharmapuri, a backward area, are malnourished, say authorities.
The money has to be paid in three equal installments from the seventh month of pregnancy till the third immunization of the newborn - mainly to compensate for the wage loss economically deprived women suffer and help them buy nutritious food.
But women pay the price of late payment with their health, and sometimes, the life of their newborns.
The state spends Rs 720 crore on maternity benefits. But in Dharmapuri, women say they seldom receive it before the baby is born.
C Mohana, a 20-year-old mother-to-be, who is visibly underweight, said, "I have not received the cash yet. Officials say they would transfer cash only after the birth of my child."
"It would be a boon if they start paying the money from the third month of pregnancy. We can use it to buy nutritious food like dates," said another pregnant woman.
On Friday, the National Human Rights Commission issued notice to the authorities, citing reports of malnourishment and negligence. The local authorities admit the infants who died were underweight and pre-maturely born and were brought late to the Dharmapuri Medical College Hospital. There was little the hospital could do.
Dr Geetha Lakshmi, Director of Medical Education, who's investigating the matter, said: "Tamil Nadu's infant mortality rate is very low. Twenty-one babies in a thousand die as against the national average of 44. In Dharmapuri, it's even lower -- 18.9 per 1000".
"We are able to save lives of 90% underweight and premature babies. That's a remarkable achievement that often goes unnoticed," said health secretary Dr Radhakriahnan.
But the delay in cash transfer defeats the purpose when it comes to economically deprived, malnourished and expectant mothers.
Calling the delays "stray cases," health minister C Vijaya Baskar said the matter would be looked into.