Raipur: The Winter Session of Chhattisgarh Assembly begins tomorrow with Congress planning to corner the ruling BJP on several issues, including the botched sterilisation surgeries in Bilaspur which claimed the lives of 13 women.
"The party will strongly raise the issue of botched sterilisation surgeries, which claimed life of several young women in Bilaspur in the Assembly and will demand resignation of the Health Minister," Congress State General Secretary Shailesh Nitin Trivedi said. The session will conclude on December 24.
Other issues that are expected to be raised during the session of the state legislature will be deaths of newborn babies at the state-run Chhattisgarh Institute of Medical Science (CIMS) Bilaspur, limiting the quantity of paddy procurement per acre from the farmers, fulfilling of demand of ruling BJP's pre-poll promise of Rs 2,100 minimum support price to farmers for procuring their paddy, he said.
Over 130 women, who underwent procedure at the state-run tubectomy camps in Bilaspur last month, were admitted in different hospitals after they developed post-operative complications.
While 12 of the 83 women, who were operated upon at Nemichand Jain Cancer and Research Centre at Pendari on November 8 died, a protected Baiga tribe woman was?the lone casualty from the camps at Pendra block, where around 56 women underwent surgery at three different camps on November 10.
Chief minister Raman Singh has constituted a judicial commission chaired by a retired district and session Judge Anita Jha to probe the incident.
The state?government had terminated the services of laproscopic surgeon R K Gupta?who had conducted the botched-up sterilisation at Pendari camp and?Chief Medical and Health Official Bilaspur R K Bhange supervising the procedure for "dereliction of duty" and "negligence".
An FIR was also registered against Gupta following which he was arrested in this connection.
Three officials of Health and Food and Drug department
were also suspended.
Moreover, Ramesh Mahawar, director of a drug company which allegedly supplied "poor quality" medicines administered to the victims of sterilisation surgeries were arrested along with his son Sumit and all the products of their manufacturing unit have been banned across the state.
As per the State Health Minister Amar Agrawal, medical reports have confirmed the presence of poisonous substance in the medicines?which were distributed to the women at the state-run tubectomy camps in Bilaspur.
In the backdrop of the incident, the main opposition Congress had demanded CM's resignation and dismissal of minister Amar Agrawal for the incident and staged protest across the state as well as in New Delhi.
