Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced on Saturday that the state government has earmarked Rs 3,150 crores for the development of minority communities, with Rs 10,000 crores to be gradually reserved for this purpose in upcoming budgets. He made this announcement during his address at the inaugural ceremony of 'Beary Souharda Bhavan' here at HBR Layout.
The Chief Minister, accompanied by Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and other prominent leaders, inaugurated the Souharda Bhavan and the B.A. Mohideen Memorial Auditorium.
In his speech, Siddaramaiah emphasized the equal distribution of the state's wealth among all its citizens, stating that "equal justice will be served, and no one can be treated unfairly." He expressed pride in laying the foundation stone for Beary Souharda Bhavan and inaugurating it, highlighting its inclusivity by being open to people of all backgrounds.
Highlighting the important role played by harmony to achieve peace and progress in a country, he asserted that attaining peace and progress in a country or society is not possible without having harmony and equality among diverse cultures.
Stressing on creating harmony in the society, he stated, “Those who sow mistrust and hatred towards each other will be the primary reason for the downfall of this country. BA Mohideen was an exemplary personality with true secular values, who believed in friendship.”
He further assured strict action against those who disturb the peace in the society, emphasizing that individuals from all castes and religions are entitled to exercise their constitutional rights.
Beary community’s contribution to peace and development immense: D.K Shivakumar
Speaking at the ceremony, Deputy Chief Minister D.K Shivakumar commended the Beary Community as having contributed a lot to the development of peace, harmony and educational institutions in the state. He also thanked the Beary community for its support to the Congress party in the recent Vidhana Sabha Polls.
Acknowledging the community’s positive impact on Kannada language, he added that, “the Beary speaking community has made memorable contributions to Kannada literature, culture and language is immense. While girls wear jewelry to look beautiful, the beary speaking community has made Kannada beautiful” he said.
Meanwhile, he also recalled the contribution made by the community towards the temples of the Dakshina Kannada district, and also acknowledged that it was Bappa Beary who constructed the Shri Durgaparameshwari Temple in Mulki.
Shivakumar also stressed on generating employment in hometown and asserted that instead of heading to foreign countries or the gulf one should stress on creating jobs in the hometown, the exit of talent will prove harmful for the development of the state.
Encouraging people of Mangaluru, he cited the coastal city as the investors' paradise and that the people should generate employment locally and remove the stigma of the city being called as the laboratory of communal riots.
Speaking about the requests made by the beary community for the grants, Shivakumar assured of all possible assistance within the framework of the law.
“Increase Muslim representation in the state cabinet”
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, Syed Muhammad Beary, President of the Bearys Group and Beary Souharda Bhavan Building committee, urged an increase in Muslim representation in the state cabinet. Simultaneously, he also suggested giving ministerial positions to three people of the community including speaker U.T Khader.
In response to Syed Beary’s remarks, D.K Shivakumar noted during his address that, “You requested that UT Khader, who holds the position of a speaker, be considered for a ministerial role. He currently occupies a higher position above ours. SM Krishna and Jagdish Shettar were also speakers.”
Syed Beary also mentioned that the state government initially allocated a 30,000 sq ft plot of land. However, for some reasons, only 12,000 sq ft of land was allotted, and they have fully utilized it for the construction of this building.
Beary expressed hope that the government would allocate the remaining 18,000 sq ft of land for the construction of another building on the same model and hostel facilities for men.
B.A. Mohideen's dream inspired the construction of this building, which has been named 'Beary Souharda Bhavan' in accordance with his suggestion. Syed Beary expressed, "This Bhavan will serve the community well, in line with the aspirations of B.A. Mohideen, who sparked an educational revolution amongst the Beary Muslims."
The ceremony was attended by Speaker U.T. Khader, Energy Minister K.J. George, Health and Family Welfare Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao, Chief Minister's Political Secretary Naseer Ahmed, Legislative Council Ruling Party Chief Whip Salim Ahmed, Umar Teekay, G.A. Bawa along with many other distinguished guests.
President of Bearys Welfare Association, Bengaluru and Member of Legislative Council B.M. Farooq presided over the event.
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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.