THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A mere slip of the tongue during an interview to BBC has landed Health Minister KK Shailaja in a soup as she finally had to reach out to the Goa chief minister tendering an apology for the mistake she had accidentally committed. Answering a query, she said a patient from Goa had to be treated in Kerala owing to poor facilities there and she described Goa as a union territory. Seeing the slip, Goa’s ruling party and chief minister demanded an apology from Shailaja.
Finally, she had to reach out to Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant personally to tender an apology. According to sources, though the minister reached out to the Goan chief minister on phone, he was not available. Later, she sent a message to him apologising for the mistake and he replied to her accepting the apology. She also clarified that she was supposed to say Mahe, a union territory surrounded by Kerala and under the jurisdiction of Puducherry, instead of Goa.
The office of the minister clarified that it was a mere slip of tongue and nothing intended to tarnish the image of Goa. Soon after the interview went viral, Sawant tweeted: “I am appalled by the factually incorrect statements of Kerala Health Minister Smt. KK Shailaja Ji during her interview with the BBC regarding the death in Kerala of a Covid positive patient from Goa.
The said patient to our knowledge and as confirmed by Kerala IDSP team is not from Goa and has not travelled from here for lack of health facilities. Second, Goa has a dedicated Covid-19 Hospital to deal with the pandemic. Seven patients have fully recovered after receiving treatment from the said hospital and we continue to treat Covid-19 patients from Goa as well as from other states.
Third, Goa has outstanding healthcare facilities with Goa Medical College being one of the oldest and finest medical colleges in Asia.” “For decades, we have been treating a large number of non-Goan patients, especially from our neighbouring states for different ailments. At last, I also want to inform you Madam that Goa is a full-fledged state and not a union territory,” he tweeted.