Shiromani Akali Dal seeks Punjab health minister’s resignation

Former SAD minister Bikram Singh Majithia alleged Sidhu was solely responsible for the mismanagement in handling pilgrims who had returned from Nanded

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Wednesday urged Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh to ask state health minister Balbir Singh Sidhu to tender his resignation, claiming that Sidhu had completely failed in tackling covid-19.

Former SAD minister Bikram Singh Majithia alleged that Balbir Singh Sidhu (in photo) was solely responsible for the mismanagement in handling pilgrims who had returned from Nanded (Anil Dayal/HT file photo)

Former SAD minister Bikram Singh Majithia claimed, “He should resign as he has refused to go to field hospitals like his counterparts in Kerala and Haryana, the states which have successfully brought down the mortality rates to 1% against 6% in Punjab.”

He alleged Sidhu was solely responsible for the mismanagement in handling pilgrims who had returned from Nanded. “The directions for quarantine for pilgrims and others were received at district headquarters on April 27, even as these people had started coming into the state from April 24 and 25,” he claimed, going on to allege that the state had failed to make proper use of Rs 112 crore it had received under the National Rural Health Mission.