Modern Indian women want to stay single; unwilling to give birth even after marriage: K Sudhakar
Bengaluru, Oct 10: Karnataka Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar on Sunday claimed that modern Indian women want to stay single, unwilling to give birth even after marriage and desire children by surrogacy.
"Today, I am sorry to say this, lots of modern women in India want to stay single. Even if they get married, they don't want to give birth. They want surrogacy. So there is a paradigm shift in our thinking, which is not good," he said during the World Mental Health Day at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurological Sciences (NIMHANS).
Lamenting the "western influence' on Indian society, the Minister said people are not willing to let their parents be with them.
"Unfortunately, today we are going in a western way. We don't want our parents to live with us, forget about grandparents being with us," the minister said.
Speaking about mental health in India, Sudhakar said every seventh Indian has some kind of mental issue, which could be mild, moderate and severe.
However, according to him, stress management is an art and Indian need not have to learn but preach the world how to handle it.
"Stress management is an art. This art we need not learn as Indians. We need to preach to the world how to handle stress, because yoga, meditation and Pranayama are the wonderful tools which our ancestors had taught the world thousands of years back," he said.
About COVID-19 and mental health, Sudhakar said the relatives were not able to touch the bodies of their near and dear ones, which caused them mental agony.
"The pandemic made the government start counselling COVID-19 patients. Till date we have counseled 24 lakh COVID-19 patients in Karnataka. I don't know any other state which has done this," Sudhakar said.
Expressing his gratitude to the NIMHANS, he said the institute was counseling people from its digital platform and was offering tele-medicine.
Sudhakar also expressed his gratitude to Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, who spoke earlier at the event, for giving 1.5 crore COVID-19 vaccines to Karnataka every month since September, which increased the inoculation coverage in the state.
He hailed the union government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for giving 94 crore vaccines till date since the launch of vaccination drive as the country undertook the Herculean task of vaccinating the entire population free of cost.
"We are the only country which is offering vaccines free of cost. Elsewhere, people are made to pay between Rs 1,500 to Rs 4,000 per vaccine," Sudhakar said.
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Minister Sivankutty welcomes PM Modi to 'developed Nemom', BJP hits back
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's roadshow here for April 9 Assembly elections, Kerala General Education Minister V Sivankutty and BJP state leadership on Saturday locked horns on social media over development issues.
Sivankutty, LDF candidate from Nemom, in a Facebook post welcomed Modi for the roadshow in the constituency later in the day and highlighted a series of development projects.
The BJP state unit took a swipe at the minister through another Facebook post sarcastically questioning his claims.
In the FB post, Sivankutty said he was happy that the Prime Minister would conduct a roadshow from Killipalam junction towards Pappanamcode, as it would provide an opportunity to witness the development initiatives carried out in Nemom.
The senior CPI(M) leader is also the sitting MLA in Nemom, one of the constituencies where BJP pins its hopes the most in the upcoming Assembly polls.
The minister invited PM Modi to witness what he described as a "developed Nemom".
He listed several projects along the proposed route of the PM's scheduled roadshow, including a newly established ITI at Chala built at a cost of Rs 18 crore and the state office of SSK, which he said was constructed by the Kerala government after alleged denial of central assistance.
The minister further pointed to infrastructure such as the Deputy Director of Education's office complex, and a new building for Chala school constructed at a cost of Rs 4.8 crore.
He also highlighted road development and beautification works from Karamana junction to Pravachambalam, undertaken at a cost of Rs 5 crore, along with new street lighting installations.
Sivankutty said additional projects included multi-storey school buildings at various institutions, road upgradation works, and a career development centre built at a cost of Rs 6 crore.
While welcoming the Prime Minister, Sivankutty also urged him to explain the delay in disbursing Rs 1,500 crore allegedly due to Kerala under the SSK scheme, stating that the funds are meant for supporting children from economically weaker and marginalised sections.
He further claimed that salaries of around 7,000 teaching and non-teaching staff under the scheme are currently being paid by the state government.
In its social media post, the BJP's state leadership responded sarcastically to Sivankutty's claims of development by listing a series of prominent landmarks in and around Thiruvananthapuram, suggesting that the PM could see them by simply turning in different directions.
"Turn a little to the right and you can see the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport. Go straight from there and you will see the Vizhinjam seaport. Turn left and you can see the Thumba rocket launch centre. From there, if you go straight, you will reach Thiruvananthapuram railway station. Turn right and you will see the Padmanabhaswamy temple," it said.
"Go straight and you will reach Kovalam international beach. And if you look up from there, you can see the sky," the post said in Malayalam.
