Highlight positive contributions of Christian institutions in nation building: Derek O'Brien tells youths

Chennai: Senior Trinamool Congress leader Derek O'Brien on Saturday highlighted contributions of Christian-run health institutions in the country, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, and called upon the youth to focus on the positive role the community plays in nation building, especially in the sectors of health and education.

Addressing members of the Christian community at an event in Chennai, O'Brien also stressed that the youth should not be drawn into "negative communication" of the RSS, and highlight the work being done by Christian institutions.

The TMC Rajya Sabha Parliamentary Party leader also slammed the Union government over the issue of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) licenses of several Christian-run NGOs being suspended, and also alleged discrepancies in figures regarding COVID deaths.

O'Brien was delivering the keynote address on the theme "Students in pursuit of change, role of Christian institutions in healthcare", at the centenary celebrations of All India Catholic University Federation (AICUF) in Chennai, fourth in the "Speak Up" series being addressed by the TMC leader.

"Show them the facts, figures and highlight the huge contribution this microscopic minority has made in building our great nation," O'Brien said.

Highlighting the role of Christian-run health institutions during the Covid-19 pandemic, he claimed over 1000 hospitals, with 60,000 in-patient beds were offered by Christian institutions during that period.

"Over 80 per cent of work done by Christian healthcare institutions are in remote, medically unserved regions. These institutions serve over tow per cent of India's population... around 2.5 crore people," he said.

He said the Catholic Health Association of India (CHAI) is the largest non-governmental healthcare network in India, with over 3500 institutions, and 76,000 health professionals.

He said the Christian Medical Association of India (CMAI) has 270 member institutions, 10,000 health professionals, and 46 nursing schools, Emmanuel Hospital Association (EHA) runs 20 hospitals, and Christian Medical College (CMC) Vellore is a 3000-bed multi-specialty healthcare system with seven campuses.

Replying to a question on the issue of FCRA licenses for some Christian-run institutions being cancelled, he said, "All of us are fighting for this.

"Unfortunately, two-three years ago they even had a plan to stop the Missionaries Of Charity from receiving funds. All political parties opposed to a particular party, we are all fighting, they are doing such a good work, why are you doing this, why are you targeting them..."

On December 27, 2021, the Home Ministry had declined renewing the FCRA license for the Missionaries Of Charity founded by Mother Teresa, saying that some adverse inputs were noticed while considering the renewal application. The license was, however, renewed days later on January 8, 2022.

Referring to the recently released death registration data, the TMC leader alleged that an analysis of the report released last week by the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India reveals that there were over 20 lakh more COVID deaths in 2021 than originally reported. He also said the highest under-counting of deaths was from Gujarat.

According to the Vital Statistics report for 2021 based on the Civil Registration System (CRS) released last week, the number of registered deaths increased from 81.2 lakh in 2020 to 102.2 lakhs in 2021. The report for 2020 said the number of registered deaths increased from 76.4 lakh in 2019 to 81.2 lakh in 2020.

Last week, government sources claimed India's cumulative excess mortality for 2020-2021 was 9.3 per cent higher than expected deaths, a figure which was lower than that of the US, Italy and Russia.

So far, Speak Up events have been held by O'Brien in Ahmedabad, and Bengaluru.