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Himachal budget session: Coronavirus not discussed, Congress walks out of assembly
The speaker said that coronavirus scare has spread in the nation and it is not a matter to be discussed
Members of the opposition Congress on Wednesday, staged a walkout from the assembly after speaker Vipin Singh Parmar rejected their demand to suspend the day’s business to discuss coronavirus risk in the state.
As soon as the house met for the day, leader of opposition Mukesh Agnihotri demanded adjournment of the house to discuss the situation arising out of the novel coronavirus. Members of the opposition had moved a motion of adjournment under Rule 67 to discuss the matter. Rejecting their demand, the speaker said that coronavirus scare has spread in the nation and it is not a matter to be discussed.
He said that he had been informed by the chief minister’s office that Jai Ram Thakur would apprise the house about suspected coronavirus cases reported in the state. However, members of the opposition insisted that the speaker should allow them to raise the issue before the chief minister issues his statement, but their demand was rejected.
Parmar allowed Jai Ram Thakur to issue his statement on coronavirus which further agitated the opposition. The legislators resorted to sloganeering, and after a few minutes staged a walkout from the house.
Jai Ram Thakur condemned the opposition for staging a walkout. He said that the opposition was not taking the matter seriously and were trying to politicise the issue.
He added that three suspected cases of coronavirus have been reported from Bilaspur and Kangra district.
A suspected coronavirus patient from Bilaspur had visited South Korea recently and currently is under quarantine at Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC), Shimla.
Two persons from Kangra returned from Italy and have been admitted to isolation ward at Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College, Tanda.
“The state health department is fully prepared to tackle the outbreak of the virus,” said Jai Ram Thakur.
He said that 30 foreigners, including 26 Chinese nationals and four persons from Thailand were under observation and they have shown no symptoms of the deadly virus.
“As many as 214 people were home quarantined in the state according to the information received from the central government, of which, 181 have completed the 28-day observation period. Around 15 are still under observation, while 18 have left the state,” added Thakur.
Giving details of measures taken by the state government, Thakur said that nodal officers have been appointed at district-level to monitor the situation and a 24x7 helpline (104) has been set up in the state.
For transportation of infected patients, three well-equipped ambulances have been stationed in Mandi, Shimla and Dharamshala, said Thakur.
The state government is also in constant touch with the central government and information is being shared through various means, he added.
