BHUBANESWAR: The Opposition BJD and Congress disrupted proceedings of the Assembly for the third consecutive day on Thursday demanding the resignation of Health and Family Welfare minister Mukesh Mahaling for the fire mishap at SCB Medical College and Hospital, which claimed lives of 12 patients on Monday.
The House had to be adjourned several times on the day as Opposition members threatened to disrupt proceedings till the minister resigned. Speaker Surama Padhy had to adjourn the House first till 11.30 am, them 1 pm and finally till 4 pm because of the noisy scenes.
The Speaker convened an all-party meeting to address the stalemate. But it failed to resolve the impasse.
The Opposition members trooped into the well of the House as soon as the question hour began, shouting anti-government slogans and holding placards. Some of the members even tried to climb on to the Speaker’s podium. After running the House in this condition for about eight minutes, the Speaker adjourned the proceedings.
The same situation continued in the afternoon with the Opposition members staging a walk out from the House during budget discussion of the Water Resources department.
Talking to mediapersons outside the House, Opposition chief whip Pramila Mallick said the BJP government cannot absolve itself of responsibility by ordering a judicial inquiry or suspending four junior-level officers.
Stringent action should be taken against the hospital superintendent and top health administration for their negligence that led to the loss of lives, she demanded.
In reaction, BJP member Irasis Acharya came down heavily on the Opposition for disrupting the proceedings while pointing out that the state government has already taken action after the incident took place.“The government has suspended four officials, launched an investigation by a fact-finding team and also ordered a judicial probe into the matter. There is no point in stalling the House,” he said.
