BJP urges Congress govt to fulfil election promises or face protests across Karnataka
Mangaluru, May 27: The BJP will hold statewide agitations if the Congress government in Karnataka fails to fulfil its five guarantees to the people, party state president Nalin Kumar Kateel said on Saturday.
Addressing reporters here, Kateel said the guarantees should be implemented within a month and warned that the government will face a series of protests if there is any delay in this regard.
He said government officials are bearing the brunt of people's fury who refuse to pay electricity bills and other charges citing the Congress promises.
Kateel, also Dakshina Kannada MP, alleged that the new dispensation is practising revenge politics and booking cases against BJP MLAs and party workers. Cases have been booked against MLAs Harish Poonja and C N Ashwath Narayan, while Congress workers are indulging in violence, he added.
The BJP state chief dared the Congress to probe the charges made by them against the previous BJP government. The government should also allow an impartial probe into the Lokayukta cases against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, he said.
ALSO READ: Congress leader B Ramanath Rai seeks SIT probe into political murders in Dakshina Kannada district
On comments by some Congress leaders about banning the RSS, Kateel said even former prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Narasimha Rao who tried to ban the organisation were not successful due to intervention of courts.
He also said the BJP government had appointed slain party activist Praveen Nettaru's wife as a government employee on contract basis and on compassionate grounds. However, the new Congress government has removed her from service.
Kateel urged the Chief Minister to allow her to continue in service on humanitarian grounds.
BJP MLAs from Dakshina Kannada district Vedavyas Kamath, Bharath Shetty, Harish Poonja, Umanath Kotian, Rajesh Naik. Bhagirathi Muruliya and MLC Prathap Simha Nayak were present at the press meet.
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Woman in labour dies while being transported in ambulance lacking oxygen support
Palghar (PTI): A 26-year-old pregnant woman from Maharashtra's Palghar district died while being taken to hospital in an ambulance which was not equipped with oxygen and other necessary facilities, authorities said on Wednesday.
Palghar's Civil Surgeon Dr Ramdas Marad said the health department has repeatedly raised concerns with authorities about the lack of specialised ambulances in the region.
The woman, who was in labour pain, was brought to a rural hospital here in a critical state on Tuesday evening.
"If she had come earlier, we could have saved her," the health official said.
Palghar Lok Sabha member Dr Hemant Savara said the health department should take necessary action into the matter and ambulance services should have adequate facilities.
Pinki Dongarkar, resident of Sarni village, went into labour on Tuesday evening.
Her family immediately rushed her to Kasa rural hospital, but due to the critical nature of her condition, the staff there referred her to neighbouring Silvassa city (in the Union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu) for further medical attention.
However, despite frantic attempts by her family to secure an ambulance equipped with oxygen and necessary medical facilities through the '108' emergency service, their requests went unanswered, a health official said.
They were eventually provided with a regular ambulance by the Kasa rural hospital.
While en route to Silvassa, the woman succumbed to complications and the foetus also did not survive, health officials confirmed.
Dr Marad said the woman was brought to the Kasa rural hospital in a critical state.
According to him, the woman suffered from a condition called Intrauterine Fetal Death (IUFD), where the foetus died in the womb. The exact time of the foetal death could not be determined.
Upon arrival at the hospital, the woman was semi-conscious and showed signs of severe infection.
On issues with the 108 emergency ambulance services, which are privately operated, Dr Marad said the ambulance might have been unavailable due to high demand.
The health department has repeatedly raised concerns with authorities about the lack of specialised ambulances in the region, he said.
Talking to PTI, Palghar BJP MP Savara said, "This is a very sad incident. The health department should take necessary action in this connection. Also, such an incident should not happen in future for this reason."
"The ambulance services should have adequate oxygen and cardiac support facilities. Also, a doctor is required to accompany the patient. I will follow it up with the government," he said.
CPI (M) leader Vinod Nikole, the newly-elected assembly member from Dahanu in Palghar, said he had raised the issue in the House during his last term, but no action was taken.
He criticised the government over "indifference" towards improving healthcare facilities, particularly in tribal areas, and accused the state of prioritising other programmes, such as the Ladki Bahin Yojana, over the urgent needs of healthcare in rural regions.
