Social production of blame - Case study of OPV-related deaths in West Bengal

In December 1996 three children were reported to have died and several othe rs had fallen ill after being administered the oral polio vaccine (OPV) at the first phase of the Pulse Polio Immunisation (PPI) campaign. The authors examine the blame assigning discourses in this context. While attempting t o map the varied and plural memories of the event on the registers of the m edia, the state and the community, ail attempt is made to understand the na ture of blame and accusation encountered within each of these registers.