‘Welcome to Rome, my friend!’: Giorgia Meloni welcomes PM Modi to Italy

Kochi Feb 23 (IANS) Senior Congress leaders on Monday mounted a sharp attack on Kerala’s Pinarayi Vijayan government over recurring allegations of medical negligence, rejecting the state minister’s contention that such incidents are “isolated cases”.

The criticism came after the Congress General Secretary and Alappuzha Lok Sabha member visited Usha Joseph, a native of his constituency, who is undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Ernakulam, after a pair of scissors that was allegedly left inside her abdomen during a surgery at Vandanam Medical College Hospital in 2021 was removed last week.

Addressing the media, he said inquiry committees announced in the wake of medical negligence cases were often meant to whitewash lapses rather than fix accountability.

“Committees are declared whenever such incidents surface, but no meaningful action follows their reports. If those responsible for medical negligence are not held accountable, are the victims to be treated as the culprits?” he asked.

Venugopal described the inquiry findings as “strange” and said the government should admit mismanagement and take corrective steps instead of attempting to deflect criticism by invoking caste and gender narratives.

“No one is trying to portray government hospitals in a bad light. But the system meant to prevent the recurrence of such lapses has completely failed,” he said, adding that Kerala’s health sector was in the grip of negligence.

Repeatedly terming recurring incidents as isolated cases, he said, was untenable.

“It is the Health Department that needs treatment,” he remarked.

Leader of the Opposition V.D.Satheesan echoed similar concerns, ridiculing the various Ministers’ assertions that everything happening in the health sector was “isolated episodes”.

“If the Minister’s inquiry reports are compiled, they would run into several volumes. We would have to build a large hall just to keep those books,” he said, in a sharp swipe targeted at the journalist turned Health Minister Veena George, at the frequency of probes ordered after adverse incidents.

Congress leaders said that recurring lapses could not be brushed aside with routine announcements of inquiries, maintaining that public confidence in the state’s health infrastructure could be restored only through transparency, accountability and systemic correction.

–IANS

sg/vd

New Delhi, March 30 (IANS) The government on Monday said that there is an adequate stock of fertilisers at about 180 lakh metric tonnes (LMT), compared with 147 LMT a year ago, despite the escalating West Asia crisis and supply issues.

Additional Secretary, Department of Fertilisers, Aparna Sharma, however, said that domestic urea output has taken a hit.

“As of today, we have an adequate stock position. Urea and Diammonium phosphate (DAP) are made available to farmers at regulated prices,” she said at an inter-ministerial briefing, adding that supplies remain under control.

“The global fertiliser market has been affected, and prices have increased due to the prevailing geopolitical situation. Our freight costs have also increased,” Sharma added.

India is dependent on imports of urea and phosphatic fertilisers to meet the demand of the agriculture sector. To ensure a stable and assured supply in view of this dependency, the Department of Fertilisers has facilitated the signing of long-term agreements between Indian companies KRIBHCO, IPL and CIL with Saudi Arabia’s Maaden for the supply of 31 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of DAP and NPK annually to India over a five-year period from 2025-26 to 2029-30.

Sharma further informed that April and May are generally lean months used for inventory build-up, adding that supplies had already been arranged in advance. “We are diversifying our sourcing bases and procuring supplies from Russia, Morocco, Australia, Algeria, Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia, Canada, etc,” she added.

Meanwhile, Joint Secretary, Marketing and Oil Refinery, in the Petroleum Ministry, Sujata Sharma, said during the regular briefing that inventories are sufficient across products and the country has adequate stocks of petrol, diesel, LPG and LNG.

“Crude inventories are adequate,” she said. The ministries have backed the expansion of piped natural gas (PNG) infrastructure, while relief measures have also been rolled out for vulnerable groups.

Around 1.04 crore LPG booking requests came in the last two days, and 92 lakh deliveries were completed.

Enforcement action has also intensified, with 2,500 raids and 2,000 cylinders seized on Sunday, Sharma said.

–IANS

na/vd