Kejriwal, urges Modi, to ask Delhi IAS officers, to end 'strike'
New Delhi, June 15: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday yet again urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to direct the IAS officers in the Delhi administration to end their strike before June 17 in order to enable him to attend the NITI Aayog meet.
"The IAS officers in Delhi have been on strike for the last three months and this had badly affected several (administrative) works. In order to get this strike ended, my three ministers and I have been camping in the Lt Governor office for the last five days, but your Lt Governor is not taking any action", Kejriwal wrote in the letter.
The Delhi Chief Minister said since the IAS officers in the Delhi administration are directly under the Central government's control, he had written to the Prime Minister on Thursday also over the issue but got no response from his side.
"The issues to be discussed in the NITI Aayog meet scheduled on June 17 will have to be executed by these IAS officers only... These IAS officers have been barred (by the Centre) to come to meeting called by Delhi Ministers. Tell me, would you be able to do any work if IAS officers stop coming to the meetings called by you?," Kejriwal said.
"I hope the IAS officers' strike would be ended before June 17 so that I can attend the NITI Aayog meet on that day," he added.
Kejriwal, along with Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Cabinet ministers Satyendar Jain and Gopal Rai, has been camping in the Raj Niwas -- the official accommodation-cum-office of Lt Governor Anil Baijal -- since Monday evening. They continued for a fifth consecutive day on Friday.
They have been demanding a direction to the IAS officers working in the Delhi administration to end their undeclared strike, action against officers who have struck work and approval to his government's proposal for doorstep delivery of ration to the poor.
Earlier, in a video released from the Lt Governor's office, Kejriwal asked the party workers to launch a campaign similar to the one they did over electricity bills.
"After Sunday, if there is no response on our demands, go door-to-door and bring sign of at least 10 lakh families. We will forward it to the Prime Minister. He is not responding on my demands, so the people of Delhi will ask him," Kejriwal had said.
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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.
