Measures will be taken to ensure adequate supply of liquid oxygen to all hospitals: Minister
Bengaluru: Karnataka Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar on Tuesday said he has directed officials to make necessary arrangements to ensure adequate supply of liquid oxygen to all hospitals in the state, amid growing demand.
He also said the government was planning to establish new liquid oxygen plants to meet the high demand.
The Minister today visited the Kempegowda Institute of Medical Sciences here, from where several patients had to be shifted to various hospitals in the city last night as the medical facility was short of oxygen supply.
"There are some issues in supply of oxygen to hospitals as there is huge demand. I have directed the officials to make necessary arrangements to ensure adequate supply of liquid oxygen to all hospitals in the state," Sudhakar was quoted as saying by his office in a release. Measures will also be taken to establish new liquid oxygen plants to meet the high demand, he said.
During the recent video conferencing with Prime Minister Narendra Modi too, the state had sought centre's cooperation in setting up of liquid oxygen plants.
Sudhakar said as the number of COVID cases has increased, there is a scarcity of oxygen at all hospitals and KIMS faced that situation yesterday. Patients were shifted to Bowring and Victoria hospitals immediately, he said.
"We are taking measures to establish oxygen plants at all medical hospitals across the state. We are in contact with private firms which supply liquid oxygen and the principal secretary of the industries department is in touch with them," he said.
The demand for oxygen has gone up by 4 to 5 times due to COVID, he added. The minister said the KIMS hospital has a liquid oxygen plant with a capacity of 2,400 cubic metres, but it is not enough to meet the demand.
Officials have been instructed to ensure adequate supply of liquid oxygen to all government hospitals and medical colleges. The problem doesn't arise in other districts as the demand there is not as high as Bengaluru, he said.
The Minister also said that the cost has naturally increased due to increase in demand. "The government will regulate the prices if it is feasible at the state level for regulating the cost of vendors from other states we may have to approach the central government."
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
