Mysore/Mysuru: Mysuru and Kodagu MP Pratap Simha has suggested the District Administration to either constitute a Task Force or a Committee by private individuals for the maintenance of hospitals that comes under the Mysore Medical College and Research Institute (MMC&RI).

Chairing District Development Coordination and Monitoring Committee (Disha) meeting at Zilla Panchayat (ZP) auditorium in city this morning, he said that the hospitals which come under MMC&RI like K.R. Hospital, Trauma Care Centre and Super-Speciality Hospital require participation of private individuals for their better maintenance. These hospitals will be totally mismanaged if they were let to the Government Departments for its maintenance. The District Administration must consider involvement of private people in the maintenance of those hospitals, he added.

Report by evening

Simha directed Deputy Commissioner (DC) Dr. Bagadi Gautham to give him a report on total requirement of Oxygen Generating Plants in the taluk by evening. 

This instruction was given when District Health Officer (DHO) Dr. K.H. Prasad informed the meeting that there was no proposal regarding setting up of the Oxygen Plant in Periyapatna.

Attacks former DC

Without taking the name of former DC, Rohini Sindhuri, the MP said that the District Administration tried to hide the actual deaths due to Coronavirus to show off that everything was under control in the district. 

According to his information, as many as 1,003 COVID deaths had occurred in Mysuru city in the month of May but that number was not made public. Since the State Government has announced a compensation of Rs. 1 lakh each to family that lost a family member due to COVID-19 pandemic, death audit must be done in a transparent manner.

On preparation for third wave of the pandemic, the DC said that a Rs. 10.62 crore proposal has been prepared for the maintenance of hospitals to treat the children. Steps have been taken to ready 180 beds in the next ten days. Besides, the funds were required to make necessary arrangements to face the third wave effectively. A number of private paediatricians have come forward to treat the children free of cost. Already, one round of meeting has been held in this connection and another meeting will be held soon.

On the vaccination coverage, the DC said, of the total 34 lakh population in district, around 25 lakh people were eligible to take the vaccine. Of this, 13.78 lakh people have been vaccinated. 

In regard to college students and lecturers, the DHO said that around one lakh which included students, teachers and support staff were eligible to get the vaccine and already 34,000 have taken it. Rest will be inoculated before the end of this month, he added.

MCC Commissioner G. Lakshmikantha Reddy, ZP Chief Executive Officer (CEO) A.M. Yogesh, DCF Dr. K.C. Prashanth Kumar and others were present.

COVID-19: MP demands death audit

Referring to reports on under-reporting or under-counting of COVID deaths in Mysuru district, Simha said that he has documents to show that 1,003 people died of the deadly pandemic in the month of May alone in the city during the second wave of attack which struck the district in April, while the then official figures for May was just above 200. 

Claiming that the names of more than 700 COVID victims are missing from the official list, he demanded a thorough audit of COVID deaths that occurred in May.

Contending that he was spelling out COVID death figures with document proof that contains the full list of COVID dead,  Simha reiterated that a death audit alone can render justice to all COVID victims.