Gujarat Minister says H1N1 situation under control, orders hospitals to strengthen preparedness

Posted on by Vividh Bharathi

Gandhinagar, Aug 24 (IANS) Gujarat has stepped up preparedness against seasonal influenza as H1N1 cases rise in major cities, with Health Minister Praful Pansheriya saying on Monday that patients in the state were in normal condition and there was no serious outbreak.

A high-level review meeting was held in Gandhinagar under Pansheriya’s chairmanship to assess the state’s preparedness against H1N1 and review measures taken to control water-borne and mosquito-borne diseases during the monsoon.

The meeting was conducted through video conference and was attended by medical superintendents of civil hospitals, deans of medical colleges and senior health officials from districts and municipal corporations.

Pansheriya said H1N1 cases were being reported from metropolitan centres such as Delhi and Mumbai, from where people continue to travel to Gujarat by air, rail and road.

“There is no serious outbreak of H1N1 in the state. As the condition of the patients is normal, citizens of the state do not need to worry at all,” he said.

The minister directed all hospitals to strictly follow the 2019 H1N1 guidelines for patient sampling, testing and treatment.

He also instructed officials to ensure that emergency departments, doctors and nursing staff are given the necessary directions regarding the protocol.

The review also focused on ensuring that government hospitals remain adequately equipped to handle any increase in cases.

Pansheriya directed medical superintendents, medical college deans and senior health officials to maintain sufficient stocks of essential medicines and ensure adequate availability of oxygen and ventilators.

He further instructed hospital authorities to resolve technical or staffing-related issues internally so that patient services are not disrupted. Special emphasis was also placed on strengthening cleanliness drives in hospitals.

The minister also praised the work carried out by district health authorities during the monsoon, saying “government hospitals had provided prompt treatment to patients suffering from diarrhoea and vomiting, typhoid, cholera, malaria, chikungunya, jaundice and seasonal flu”.

The review comes as health authorities nationally continue to monitor seasonal influenza.

The Indian Council of Medical Research has said no new H1N1 strain has been detected in India and that the viruses currently circulating are seasonal strains that have been in circulation since 2025.

–IANS

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New Delhi, March 28 (IANS) The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Friday, approved the inclusion of Kosi Mechi Intra-State Link Project of Bihar under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana-Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme (PMKSY-AIBP).

The CCEA also approved Central support of Rs.3,652.56 crore to Bihar for completion of the project by March 2029, with an estimated cost of Rs 6,282.32 crore.

The Link Project envisages diversion of part of surplus water of Kosi river for extending irrigation to the Mahananda basin lying in Bihar by way of remodelling of existing Eastern Kosi Main Canal (EKMC) and extending the EKMC beyond its tail end at RD 41.30 km up to river Mechi at RD 117.50 km so that rivers Kosi and Mechi which flow through Bihar could be linked together within Bihar.

According to the CCEA, the Link Project will provide 2,10,516 hectares of additional annual irrigation in Kharif season in Araria, Purnea, Kishanganj and Katihar districts of Bihar.

The project has potential to divert/utilise about 2,050 million cubic metre of surplus water of Kosi through the proposed link canal.

Further, after remodelling of existing EKMC, shortfall supply to 1.57 lakh hectare existing command of existing Eastern Kosi Main Canal shall be restored.

The PMKSY was launched during the year 2015-16, with an aim to enhance physical access of water on farm and expand cultivable area under assured irrigation, improved on-farm water use efficiency, introduce sustainable water conservation practices, etc.

The Centre approved the implementation of PMKSY during 2021-26 with an overall outlay of Rs 93,068.56 crore (Central assistance of Rs 37,454 crore).

Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme (AIBP) component of PMKSY, under the Ministry of Jal Shakti, is for the creation of irrigation potential through major and medium irrigation projects.

The government said that 63 projects have been completed under PMKSY-AIBP to date, and additional irrigation potential of 26.11 lakh hectare has been created since April 2016.

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Citizenship process under CAA to be completed soon: HM Amit Shah

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Speaking at a convention on the occasion of the 125th birth anniversary of Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder Shyama Prasad Mukherjee in Kolkata, the Union Home Minister said that although the Liaquat-Nehru Pact treaty signed on April 8, 1950, by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Pakistani Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan was meant to establish a framework to guarantee the rights of minorities in both countries, in reality the safety of minority Hindus in Pakistan and East Pakistan (later Bangladesh) was not kept in mind.

Shah said that Shyama Prasad Mukherjee studied the pact and realised that the interests of minority Hindus in Pakistan and East Pakistan were not taken care of in it, though the same pact gave importance to safeguarding the interests of Muslims in India.

He added that with the party of Shyama Prasad Mukherjee being in power, the CAA had been promulgated to give citizenship to Hindu and other refugees coming to India facing religious oppression in neighbouring countries.

He assured that citizenship would be granted to all such refugees and that the process of granting citizenship would be completed soon.

Speaking on the occasion, the Union Home Minister was all praise for West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari for his performance in the first two months as the state’s administrative head.

According to Shah, CM Adhikari had fulfilled his pre-election promise of strong action against anti-social and corrupt elements in the state. The Union Home Minister also said that the pre-election promise to implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the state is on its way towards fulfilment.

He said those involved in corruption should be prepared now, and that all of them would be held accountable.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also virtually addressed the convention and said that Shyama Prasad Mukherjee’s life inspired a mass movement.

He said it gave rise to a philosophical movement in India, and that when the Bharatiya Jana Sangh was formed, the Congress was triumphantly popular nationwide, with no room for other ideologies.

He added that Shyama Prasad Mukherjee created the organisation by challenging that adversity.

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Instead of then sending a panel of three IPS officers — to succeed Malviya — to the UPSC for clearance, the state government chose to appoint Rajeev Kumar as the Acting Director General of Police.

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