UP: Denied hospital admission, patients camp under 'peepal' tree 'for oxygen'
Shahjahanpur (UP), May 1: A group of people camped under a 'peepal' (sacred fig) tree here after allegedly being refused admission in a hospital, believing that it emits a higher level of oxygen.
Around half-a-dozen people spread their beds under the tree along with their patients, according to Ravindra Maurya, whose sister also took shelter.
However, the chief medical officer said only one coronavirus-positive person was found at the spot in Tilhar area -- 25 km from the district headquarters -- and the patient had been hospitalised. He claimed that there was no shortage of oxygen.
Roshan Lal Verma, the BJP MLA from Tilhar, said on Saturday that he went to the spot after getting information that some people were spreading beds under the tree due to shortage of oxygen.
"As I went near the tree, I saw 8-9 people spreading their beds. Some people fled after seeing me, thinking that police will come, arrest them and send them to jail," Verma told PTI.
These people had gone to the medical college, but they were not admitted there. Therefore, they put their beds under the sacred fig tree, according to the BJP leader.
"These people are staying under the tree for the past five-six days," he said.
In a purported video, a man and a woman who are sitting on a mattress is attending to a girl who seems to be ill. The man is also waving a hand fan at the teenager.
"We were sitting under the tree as it releases huge amount of oxygen. The other patients who were sitting with us had low oxygen level," Maurya told PTI over phone.
He said the Health Department had took his sister for COVID testing and she tested negative.
But despite this, she was admitted to a COVID ward, following which they decided to take shelter under the tree, Maurya alleged.
Verma claimed that he had tried to contact Shajahanpur MLA and Medical Education Minister Suresh Khanna, but to no avail.
"Even today, he (Khanna) did not receive the call. After this, when the entire matter was briefed to District Magistrate Indra Vikram Singh, he took it seriously and sent an ambulance to the spot," Verma said.
When contacted, Chief Medical Officer S P Gautam said, "On getting the information, we had sent a team, which could find only one person there. He tested positive for COVID-19 and was hospitalised."
"We have enough oxygen available with us," Gautam claimed.
"People who want to stay in their houses and get their treatment done there, giving them oxygen is not possible. But patients admitted in the hospitals are being given oxygen," the official added.
Denied admission and oxygen at a government hospital in UP's Shahjahanpur, a family took shelter under an old Peepal tree for four days. On Saturday, they were admitted at the hospital by MLA Roshan Lal Verma. @Benarasiyaa pic.twitter.com/fvvUsWdwQe
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TN Assembly elections: Eight-month pregnant homemaker wins Thiru Vi Ka Nagar seat for TVK
Chennai (PTI): Before giving birth, she had already delivered a mandate—a symbol of hope for Thiru Vi Ka Nagar.
Echoing Delhi’s 2013 “common citizen” political churn associated with the rise of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), an eight-month-pregnant homemaker, M R Pallavi, has been elected as an MLA from Chennai’s Thiru Vi Ka Nagar constituency, emerging as one of the notable first-time faces of the Vijay-led TVK in the recently held Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.
In the narrow lanes of Thiru Vi Ka Nagar, a steady stream of media personnel has been making their way to Pallavi’s residence—a scene reminiscent of the result day in Delhi when journalists thronged the modest home of Rakhi Birla, who had won from Mangolpuri on an AAP ticket.
Pallavi, 36, a homemaker educated up to class XII, defeated the DMK candidate K S Ravichandran by a margin of 22,333 votes in the reserved Thiru Vi Ka Nagar Assembly constituency.
Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam emerged as the single largest party by winning 108 seats, while DMK and AIADMK got 59 and 47, respectively.
Pallavi’s victory has drawn attention due to her personal circumstances. She campaigned extensively while eight months pregnant, going door-to-door to reach voters.
According to local accounts, she even fainted once during the campaign but continued her outreach.
She has not spoken to the media following her victory, as doctors have advised her to rest. Her husband, Rajesh, briefly recounted her campaign efforts.
A self-professed admirer of actor-turned-politician Vijay, Pallavi joined TVK soon after its formation and is now among its first-time legislators.
Doctors have advised her to be hospitalised around May 20, as she is expecting her second child. Ahead of that, voters in Thiru Vi Ka Nagar have entrusted her with representing them in the state Assembly.
Political observers say the rise of candidates like Pallavi signals a possible shift in Tamil Nadu’s political landscape, with voters backing a new party and candidates from non-traditional backgrounds.
