Social Production of Blame

In December 1996 three children were reported to have died and several others 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 to map the varied and plural memories of the event on the registers of the media, the state and the community, an attempt is made to understand the nature of blame and accusation encountered within each of these registers.