The hospital, which can cater to only 90 beds, received 230 patients, many of them critical because complicated cases are referred to it from across the state, when the first death took place Saturday. By Sunday, five more women lost their lives, making relatives angry and forcing the administration to step up security. Some patients even began leaving the hospital.

Hospital superintendent Dr Neeraj Bedi was removed late Sunday — the first casualty of an inquiry ordered by the government. Health Minister Anup Mishra cracked the whip after a three-member committee apparently detected administrative lapses. The committee’s findings on the deaths are yet to be made public. The state women’s commission has instituted another inquiry, seeking details within seven days on the fatalities and the hospital infrastructure.

The Janani Suraksha scheme was introduced by the government to popularise institutional deliveries in the state which has high maternal mortality and infant mortality rates. Under the scheme, Rs 1,400 is paid to a woman in a rural area and Rs 1,000 in an urban area with separate monetary incentives for workers who bring pregnant women to hospitals.

Since the scheme had many takers and government hospitals in many towns found it difficult to cope with the rush, the government tied up with private hospitals under the Janani Sahayogi Scheme.

“Following irregularities in payment, the government temporarily halted the second scheme bringing the extra rush back to government hospitals,” Dr Bedi told The Indian Express. He said he was perplexed by the action against him because the committee had found that the doctors tried their best to save the patients who had developed complications. “There are strict instructions not to refuse admission to anyone,” he said, referring to the overcrowding.

Hospitals like Sultania have long written to the government to increase facilities on urgent basis. Dr Bedi claimed that the relatives of the dead women did not ask for a post-mortem. “If they were unhappy with us, they would have insisted on autopsy,” he said, adding that one woman was brought dead.

Upma Rai, a member of the Women’s Commission, said the hospital was flooded with patients and simply could not cope with the rush. “The wards are crowded with patients and their relatives who fill in for attendants because the hospital has inadequate staff,” she said, refusing to comment on the deaths. “It is a referral hospital catering mainly to very complicated cases... Our action will depend on the expert committee’s report.”