A day after 11 persons died of heat stroke and over 600 others reached dispensaries and hospitals for help, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi has questioned the logic of the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government to hold the Maharashtra Bhushan awards ceremony under the scorching sun around noon.
Two of those currently admitted are critical.
The Maharashtra Bhushan Award was conferred to the well-known social worker, Dattatreya Narayan Dharmadhikari, popularly known as Appasaheb Dharmadhikari, on Sunday, at the Corporate Park in Kharghar in the satellite township of Navi Mumbai.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah presided over the event.
After visiting the MGM Hospital at Navi Mumbai, Shinde has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh to the next of kin of the deceased and free medical treatment to those taken to hospitals.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced an ex-gratia of Rs two lakh and Rs 50,000 from the PM Relief Fund to those taken ill.
Shiv Sena (UBT) head and former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray wanted to know what went wrong. “The event was not planned properly. Who will investigate this incident?” asked Thackeray, who rushed to the hospital with Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar after he landed in Mumbai from Nagpur. “This is an issue of gross negligence,” Pawar said.
AAP national executive member Preeti Sharma Menon called for the resignation of Shinde. “The Chief Minister has no moral right to tell us what to do -- he should take responsibility and resign. The organisers should be booked for culpable homicide,” she said. “A government that converted an award ceremony into a political rally says we must not politicise the tragedy,” she pointed out.
Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha member Priyanka Chaturvedi said: "The people were sitting in the sun waiting for the award function to begin with VVIP guests. What an insensitive, inhuman tragedy. Shameful.”
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