- Sat, 31 Jul, 2010, 2:44 am -

Ranchi: Health minister Baidyanath Ram was cornered by the opposition during the question hour on the issue of malaria. The opposition led Congress and JVM were joined by RJD too today. The minister admitted to the fact that 1.23cr people of the State were in Malaria High Risk Zone and said that disinfectants were being sprayed in most of the parts. He also gave the excuse of certain temperatures only wherein the spraying could be done. The opposition said that the malaria risk prevailed throughout the year and even though the temperatures were ideally suited currently why the work was not being done? The minister had to humbly concede to the opposition’s demand and assured the house that the needful would be done immediately. The opposition members involved in the particular debate included Annapoorna Devi, Saawna Lakra, Samresh Singh, Binod Singh, Pradeep Yadav and Chamra Linda (Ind).

In another question to the minister Bandhu Tirkey raised the issue of preserving the vaccines meant for children. The minister replied that there were adequate stocks at all the hospitals and was being maintained as required. The opposition challenged him on the matter and said that most of the hospitals did not have a back-up generation system in case the lights went off as was frequently happening. They rubbished the claims of the minister that the back-up was being provided by generators and said that in a few places where there was facility of the generator, the same was non-functional and thus the vaccines were facing high risk of contamination.

The speaker intervened and told the minister to ensure that the power back-up system was flawlessly functional at all the hospitals where these vaccines were stored. The minister assured the House that it shall be done immediately.