Improve basic facilities at hospital before changing its name: Khader urges govt

Deputy Leader of Congress Legislature Party (CLP) and Mangalore MLA U T Khader on Saturday urged the BJP-led government to first focus on improving basic facilities like increasing beds and providing seating facilities for patients at Lady Goschen Hospital's outpatient ward.

"After providing all facilities to patients, the government and district in-charge minister can think of renaming the hospital after Rani Abbakka," Khader added sarcastically.

Khader said that names have their own history and culture. What patients expect is improved basic facilities in the hospital.

"The 60-bed new building, sanctioned when I was minister, is yet to be completed," he told reporters at Circuit House in Mangaluru.

He said that work on Rani Abbakka Bhavana in Thokkottu is yet to begin even after the Siddaramaiah-led government had released Rs 8 crore. The files related to it are moving from Kannada and Culture department to Housing Board and back to DC's office.

The protest against Beary Bhavana near the land identified for Abbakka Bhavana in Thokkottu is a BJP-sponsored protest, to create confusion in minds of people, he added.

"Land for the proposed Beary Bhavana was earmarked by the BJP government itself. The protesters remembered Abbakka Bhavana only when work on Beary Bhavana began. They had never questioned the minister over the inordinate delay in initiating work on Abbakka Bhavana," rued Khader.

To a query, Khader clarified that Congress did not disrupt the session. We had raised our voice against Minister Eshwarappa's remark against the flag which is anti-Constitutional.

Condemning the murder of a man hailing from the Dalit community in Belthangady, the MLA sought to know why BJP was silent on the issue.

Suitable compensation should be announced for the family, he urged.

To a query on the row over hijab at Bharath PU College in Ullal, Khader accused the government of creating confusion by misinterpreting the High Court's interim order.

"The leaders from Mogaveera Samaja, running the educational institutions in Ullal, and leaders of Ullal Dargah had convened a meeting with the DC. They had decided to write to the government seeking clarity on the interim order. Leaders also decided to find an amicable solution within the framework of law," he added.