Tempers run high at Congress' Kerala meet over 'gifting' of Rajya Sabha seat
Thiruvananthapuram, June 11: Tempers ran high at the meeting of Political Affairs Committee of Congress' Kerala unit here on Monday over the manner in which a Rajya Sabha seat which should have gone to the party was "gifted" to the Kerala Congress-Mani which returned to the Congress-led UDF after nearly two years.
The most vocal in the meeting turned out to be outgoing Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien, who was aiming for a fourth successive term in the upper house, but accused former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy of scuttling his chances.
The lone seat which the Congress could have won, based on its strength in the assembly, was handed over to Kerala Congress-Mani and the ire of Kurien and a section of the committee was that this issue was not discussed in the committee, but Chandy, along with Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala and state party president M.M. Hassan themselves decided about it and briefed Congress President Rahul Gandhi about the need for gifting it.
Another who went hammer and tongs against Chandy was P.C. Chacko, who was an aspirant for the seat, after young legislators last month voiced their stand that the seat should not be given to Kurien, as he has had a long innings in parliament.
While Chandy was absent, as he had left for Andhra Pradesh on his first visit after he was appointed General Secretary in charge of the state, where Congress is literally wiped out, Chandy's close aides including Benny Behanan and P.C. Vishnunath strongly defended their leader, citing his wide support base extending throughout the state and popularity. They asserted that if there is any hidden agenda to attack him, then they will not sit idle.
Chandy, before leaving for Andhra Pradesh, told the media that he has urgent business there and is not able to participate in the meet, but said Chennithala and Hassan would explain what happened.
V.M.Sudheeran, the immediate past president of the party was another one, who found fault in the troika and said this should never have happened.
Chennithala however told the meeting that henceforth all important matters before a decision is taken would be discussed in the committee and agreed that they had erred in not taking the committee into confidence on the matter.
The issue is also likely to surface in the party executive's meet on Tuesday and there too sparks are bound to fly.
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'Low-quality' catheters supplied to West Bengal govt hospitals at high price, probe ordered
Kolkata (PTI): The West Bengal health department has launched a probe into the supplies of allegedly low-quality and locally made catheters at a high price to several government hospitals, posing a risk to the lives of patients undergoing treatment in these facilities, officials said.
Such central venous catheters (CVCs) were allegedly supplied to at least five medical colleges and hospitals in the state, defying allocation of international standard-compliant CVCs, they said.
The distribution company, which has been accused of supplying these catheters to government hospitals, admitted to the fault but placed the blame on its employees.
"We started checking stocks some time back and found these locally made CVCs in my hospital store. These catheters are of low quality as compared to those allocated by the state. We have informed the state health department," a senior official of the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital told PTI.
Low-quality catheters were also found in the stores of other hospitals, which indicates "possible involvement of insiders in the scam", a health department official said.
The low-quality CVCs were supplied by a distributor in the Hatibagan area in the northern part of Kolkata for the last three to four months, he said.
"Such kinds of local CVCs are priced around Rs 1,500 but the distributor took Rs 4,177 for each device," the official said.
A CVC is a thin and flexible tube that is inserted into a vein to allow for the administration of fluids, blood, and other treatment. It's also clinically called a central line catheter.
"An initial probe revealed that the distribution company Prakash Surgical had supplied the low-quality and locally manufactured catheters to several government hospitals instead of the CVCs of the government-designated international company.
"All the units will be tested and a proper investigation is on to find out who benefited from these supplies," the health department official said.
The distribution company blamed its employees for the supply of inferior quality catheters.
"I was sick for a few months. Some employees of the organisation made this mistake. We are taking back all those units that have gone to the hospitals. It's all about misunderstanding," an official of the distribution company told PTI.
According to another state health department official, a complaint was lodged with the police in this connection.
Asked about how many patients were affected by the usage of such low-quality CVCs, the official said, "The probe would also try to find that out".
According to sources in the health department, some of the staff of the hospitals' equipment receiving departments and some local officials of international organisations might be involved in the alleged irregularities.
