Kejriwal's sit-in protest continues
New Delhi, June 15: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his three Cabinet colleagues continued their sit-in protest at the Lt Governor's (LG) office on Friday despite no response from the Centre.
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 LG Anil Baijal -- since Monday evening.
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 for "four months" and approval to his government's proposal for doorstep delivery of ration to the poor.
Jain, who is on a hunger strike since Tuesday, in a tweet urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to look into the matter.
"Have been waiting in the LG office from last four nights, but he could not mange even four minutes time. I hope the Prime Minister will look into this," Jain tweeted.
Echoing same sentiments, Rai also tweeted adding that he hopes Modi will "be concerned about the fitness of the democracy in Delhi".
Summarising the journey so far, Kejriwal said in tweet: "There has been no response from the LG. I have asked him for time for a meeting. I had asked the Prime Minister to look into the matter, he too did not respond. Hope Delhi will soon find a solution."
On Thursday, Kejriwal in a letter sought Modi's intervention to end the IAS officers "strike", as there has been no communication from Baijal's office.
Meanwhile, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has launched a social media campaign with the hashtag #ModijiForgiveDelhi.
Party members posted videos requesting Modi to let the elected government work by instructing the IAS officers to join back work.
Since Monday, Baijal has been working from his residence, according to sources.
More political leaders and parties have come forward to express their support to the sit-in, with former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, actor-turned-politician Kamal Hassan and Shatrughan Sinha, and parties like the CPI and the CPI(M) being the latest to join the list.
Kejriwal's protest has already been backed by West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee, RJD MP Manoj Jha, former Union Minister Yashwant Sinha.
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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.
