Sharad Pawar slams PM Modi's assurance of doubling farmers' income, claims suicides have doubled
Solapur, Aug 11: NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar on Sunday took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his assurance of doubling the income of farmers, claiming the BJP rule had, in fact, witnessed the doubling of farmer suicides.
Addressing a rally at Barshi town in Maharashtra's Solapur district, Pawar claimed farmers were not getting adequate prices for their produce and had become debt-ridden.
"The prime minister had promised to double the income of farmers, but instead, farmer suicides have doubled," he charged.
The NCP (SP) chief said the need of the hour is to change the government in the state and install a regime that protects the interests of farmers, youth and women.
"The BJP governments at the Centre and the state haven't used their power to reduce the hardships of farmers and create employment opportunities for the youth. You will see youth in distress because of the lack of jobs. We have to change the government," the former Union agriculture minister said.
Pawar pointed out that the BJP could not even win 300 seats in the recent Lok Sabha elections despite its slogan "400 paar".
"It could form the government with the help of parties from Andhra Pradesh and Bihar. The need of the hour is to reduce the debt burden on farmers, and hence, loans should be waived," he said, citing that he had done so when he held the charge of the agriculture ministry.
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Mpox patient at LNJP hospital stable, no need to panic: Delhi health minister
New Delhi, Sep 10: The mpox patient admitted to the LNJP Hospital here is in stable condition, Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said on Tuesday.
Bharadwaj conducted a surprise inspection at the hospital earlier in the day to assess its preparations for dealing with cases of mpox and dengue.
"There is one confirmed patient of mpox at LNJP hospital. He has a travel history and it is believed that he got infected during his travel abroad," the minister said.
"The patient has been isolated in a separate ward. He is in a stable condition," he added.
The 26-year-old patient, a resident of Haryana's Hisar, has only genital ulcers and skin rashes but no fever, a health department official said. The patient was kept in the disaster management ward of the hospital, according to a statement from the health department.
Bharadwaj emphasised that there was no need to panic over mpox as it spreads through contact, not through the air.
The Union health ministry on Monday said that it was an "isolated case" and there was no immediate risk to the public.
"The individual, a young male who recently travelled from a country experiencing ongoing mpox transmission, is currently isolated at a designated tertiary care isolation facility. The patient remains clinically stable and is without any systemic illness or comorbidities," the ministry had said.
The patient was admitted to the Delhi government-run hospital on Saturday.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) last month declared mpox a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) for the second time in view of its prevalence and spread across many parts of Africa.
While the LNJP has been designated as the nodal facility, two other hospitals are on standby.
The LNJP Hospital has a total of 20 isolation rooms for the patients, including 10 for confirmed cases.
The Guru Teg Bahadur (GTB) Hospital and Baba Saheb Ambedkar will have 10 rooms each for such patients, with five rooms each for suspected cases.
The health minister said that the cases of fever have increased a bit but there is nothing to worry about right now.
He said separate waiting rooms for attendants of the patients will be set up at every ward to further improve the hospital facilities.
"Separate rooms are available at the hospital for dengue patients. We have reviewed how will the doctors identify a dengue patient if they come in emergency and then how they will be shifted to a different ward," Bharadwaj said and added similar surprise inspections of other hospitals will be conducted by him.
The hospital administration told the minister that only one case of monkeypox came to the hospital and the condition of that patient is also stable, the statement said.
