Tag: Rajasthan

  • Rajasthan minister, authorities deny vaccine wastage claims in state

    By ANI
    BUNDI (RAJASTHAN): After Covid-19 vaccine wastage was reported in several districts of Rajasthan, many state ministers, and authorities concerned have come forth to deny such claims.

    State Education Minister Govind Singh Dotasara believes that the Centre is falsely accusing the state of vaccine wastage. Rajasthan is among the states which have reported the least wastage of Covid-19 vaccines, he added.

    “In the whole state of Rajasthan, there has not been any wastage above 10 per cent, as guided by the Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan. Rajasthan is in the bottom list of the vaccine wastage list of the Indian states. There are claims that the Bundi district reported 25 per cent wastage but it is actually only 2 per cent. Same is the case with other districts also. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government that failed to provide adequate vaccines, is now falsely accusing so that they garner good attention for themselves and Modi Ji would be shamed a little less. This is being deliberately done by the BJP leaders,” said Dotasara while speaking to media persons.

    From a single vial, 10 to 11 beneficiaries can be vaccinated. When a vial is opened, the doses are to be administered within four hours. In the primary health centres of Khatkad, Lakeri and Indergarh in the Bundi district, healthcare workers are compelled to throw vaccine doses in the dustbin as only a few villagers came for vaccination, as per ground reports.

    Meanwhile, Rajasthan Cabinet Minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas strongly refused to accept vaccine wastage and said the Centre is trying to distract people with rumours.

    “This is not a controversy. The leaders of BJP wish to distract the public with such talks. The Centre did not provide adequate vaccines for 18-44 year olds. There is not a single vaccine available for them,” said the Cabinet Minister.

    On the contrary, BJP state president Satish Poonia called the vaccine wastage situation in the state an “unfortunate” situation in the midst of a global pandemic.

    “The state government will be known in history for wasting Covid-19 vaccines amid the pandemic. It is unfortunate to do such a thing. The central government made an adequate allocation of the vaccines, but to witness vaccines being wasted in the state. This is negligence on the part of the state government. It would be difficult to answer that why such wastages happen in Congress-led states,” he said.

    According to the Red Cross vaccination centre in-charge Manoj Kumar, no specific reason has come to light for vaccine wastage. While speaking to ANI, he said, “No reason has come to light so far for vaccine wastage in Rajasthan. The dose that is opened deteriorates over four hours. Only when 4-5 people gather then only the vaccine vial must be opened and they should be vaccinated. We follow this procedure so that no vaccine dose is wasted at our centre.”

    His companion at the centre, Gajanand Kaahar, store in-charge also denied vaccine wastage claims at the centre.

    Alwar district vaccination in-charge Dr Arvind Gate told ANI that 0.11 per cent Covaxin and 0.89 per cent Covishield has been reported to be wasted.

    “The vaccination administered on the basis of online appointment has reduced the vaccine wastage to less than 1 per cent,” he said.

    He further said, “In Umren village, Alwar, 300 doses were wasted three months ago. Later, the amount was recovered with fine.”

    Meanwhile, Ajmer Chief Medical Health Officer KK Soni said no vaccine is being wasted in the district.

    “A new vial is opened only when seven people are present,” he added.

    According to official data, Rajasthan recorded 1,276 new cases, 65 deaths and 6,038 recoveries on Wednesday. The active case tally stood at 32,650. 

  • Probe reports of ‘vaccine wastage’ on priority: Harsh Vardhan to Rajasthan health minister

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Monday urged the Rajasthan health minister to probe reports of alleged wastage of Covid vaccine in the state on priority.

    India’s COVID-19 vaccination drive is being conducted across the country since January 16.

    The government of India is working closely with all the states and union territories to make this drive a success and help counter the pandemic effectively, the health ministry said.

    In a letter to Raghu Sharma, the Union health minister said a media report has highlighted that more than 500 vials of COVID-19 vaccines were found dumped in the waste bins of 35 Covid vaccination centres in the state which is “not acceptable” and must be investigated.

    In almost all districts, vaccine wastage is more than the national average which is less than 1 per cent, Vardhan said as he drew Sharma’s attention to some media reports about alleged high vaccine wastage in a few districts of the state.

    “Therefore, I would urge you to look into the issue of vaccine wastage on priority especially in the high wastage districts in the state,” the minister said, adding that the media report “regarding 500 vials found in waste bins which you would also agree is not acceptable” should also be investigated.

    “I would request you to advise all concerned state/districts officials to ensure sufficient planning to optimise vaccine utilisation and reduce avoidable wastage,” Vardhan said.

    “I am confident that under your guidance, the state shall take all necessary actions to monitor the vaccine usage, including the wastage and ensure smooth implementation of COVID-19 vaccination drive,” he added.

  • Petrol price up by 29 paise per litre; diesel by 26 paise a litre

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Diesel price on Monday went past the Rs 98-a-litre mark in a few places of Rajasthan as a relentless increase in fuel prices took rates to record-high levels.

    Petrol price was increased by 29 paise per litre and diesel by 26 paise a litre, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers. The increase – 16th this month – pushed petrol and diesel prices to a fresh all-time high across the country.

    Sri Ganganagar district of Rajasthan saw petrol price climb to Rs 105.24 a litre and diesel to Rs 98.08 per litre.

    Fuel prices differ from state to state depending on the incidence of local taxes such as VAT and freight charges.

    Rajasthan levies the highest value-added tax (VAT) on petrol in the country, followed by Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. In Delhi, petrol comes for Rs 94.23 per litre and diesel is priced at Rs 85.15 a litre.

    The price of petrol, which had already crossed the Rs 100-mark in several cities in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, breached the psychological barrier in Mumbai on Saturday.

    Petrol now costs Rs 100.47 a litre in Mumbai and diesel comes for Rs 92.45 per litre. The increase in Monday is the 16th increase in prices since May 4, when state-owned oil firms ended an 18-day hiatus in rate revision they observed during assembly elections in states like West Bengal.

    In 16 increases, petrol price has risen by Rs 3.83 per litre and diesel by Rs 4.42. Oil companies revise rates of petrol and diesel daily based on the average price of benchmark fuel in the international market in the preceding 15-days, and foreign exchange rates.

  • Illegal sand transportation case: 3 Rajasthan police officers removed from active duty

    By PTI
    JAIPUR: Three Rajasthan police officers were removed from active duty after a man charged with illegal transportation of sand accused them of extorting money every month for facilitating passage for trucks, officials said on Sunday.

    The Dudu circle officer (CO), the Phagi Station House Officer (SHO) and an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) were attached to the office of the Jaipur superintendent of police (rural) on Saturday, they said.

    They will remain attached to the SP’s office till the investigation into the matter is completed, the police officials said.

    On Friday, five persons, including a local BJP leader Rameshwar Meena, were arrested in connection with illegal transportation of sand in a dumper from an area under the Dudu police station of Jaipur district, they said.

    When a police team had stopped the dumper, its driver, Ramdhan, had asked why he was being stopped when a monthly amount was being given to officers from the CO level to the SHO through Meena, they said.

    The driver and cleaner of the dumper had also called Meena to the spot, the officials.

    “Five persons, including Rameshwar Meena, were arrested in connection with the sand transportation. The dumper was being escorted by a car. Meena is a local BJP leader,” SP Jaipur Rural Shankardutt Sharma said on Sunday.

    He said that Dudu CO Vijay Sehra, Phagi SHO Harinarayan Sharma and ASI Kailash Chand were removed from their posting and will be attached to the SP office till the investigation is over.

    “The police officers were shifted for an impartial investigation,” he said.

     

  • Rajasthan government, opposition BJP lock horns over wastage of COVID vaccine

    Express News Service
    JAIPUR : Political tussle in Rajasthan over vaccine wastage is intensifying. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has refuted allegations made by the BJP of wastage of 11 lakh doses and questioned the data released on the government’s CoWin app.

    The chief minister of the Congress government claimed that the state’s vaccine wastage rate was only two per cent, which is much less than the national average of six per cent. He said the BJP was trying to mislead people.

    Gehlot said in the initial days of the vaccination drive, the entry of 2.95 lakh doses was made twice at many vaccination centres on CoWin, software for tracking the vaccines, due to technical problems.

    ALSO READ | Rajasthan woman wins Covid battle after 28 days on ventilator

    Due to this, the number of vaccines shown on the software was stated to be 17001220, which is not correct. Gehlot stated that earlier in the CoWIN software, the name of the beneficiary was automatically entered.

    If people did not get the vaccine in the coefficient of 10, then the other beneficiary could not have an offline entry, which caused the vaccine to deteriorate. “For this reason, we wrote to the Centre seeking offline registration so that the vaccine is not wasted,” he said.

    Gehlot was apparently responding to the allegations of Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, who said that the ‘Rajasthan model’ of combating the pandemic was nothing but Congress mismanagement of the health service. He accused the state government of hiding the fatality and case data and doing politics to blame the Modi government.

    This has been said by other leaders of the opposition also, particularly from the saffron party. Chief Minister Gehlot hit back by saying that the BJP was trying to lower the morale of corona warriors.  “In the virtual conference held on May 21, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had said that there was a technical problem in the Central government portal which showed an increase in the percentage of vaccine wastage,” he said.

  • Rajasthan woman wins Covid battle after 28 days on ventilator

    Express News Service
    JAIPUR: The second wave of coronavirus is proving to be deadly but a 27-year-old woman from Kota displayed steely resilience to fight off the virus in 32 days. 

    Rupali Srivastava was on ventilator for 28 days. Upon her discharge from the hospital, the staffs and doctors showered flowers on her. She says she is grateful to the medical team.

    At the city’s Jaiswal Hospital her treating physician, pulmonologist Dr. Kewal Krishna Dung said that Rupali had tested Covid positive on April 21. Her oxygen saturation level was steadily falling. She was hospitalised on April 26 due to difficulty in breathing. 

    As per the Covid treatment protocol, Rupali was given plasma but it did not work. Her oxygen saturation was just 30 and the CTC score was 21/25 in the HRCT test.

    Due to the delicate situation, she was taken on ventilator. After that, according to protocol, regular medicines and cancer drugs were administered. Following this, doctors saw a gradual improvement in her health as her saturation reached between 67 and 72. 

    Under the supervision of a skilled team round the clock, Rupali’s oxygen level continued to rise and 25 days later, her oxygen level reached 88. When she was discharged, her oxygen saturation had reached 93.

    This was a period when the situation in other critical Covid patients in the city was bad. Hospitals saw shortage of oxygen and medicines and there were no beds. 

    Rupali said that she had to stay away from her 18-month-old baby for 32 days. “I did not remember when I came here, the situation was very bad, but thanks to the hospital team, I have won the battle against Covid. My child is waiting for me and I am needed there, and that is why maybe I am still alive”, she exclaimed.

  • Rajasthan housing minister interacts with FMs of six states; demands GST compensation from Centre

    By PTI
    JAIPUR: Rajasthan Urban Development and Housing Minister Shanti Dhariwal on Wednesday demanded the Centre that the outstanding GST compensation amount be released to the states at the earliest, and all COVID-19-related goods should be made tax-free.

    Dhariwal was interacting with the finance ministers of six states in a virtual meeting held on Wednesday.

    He said that the Centre should pay the outstanding GST compensation to the states at the earliest.

    He also strongly supported the demand of the finance ministers of other states to urge the Centre to make all goods related to COVID-19 tax-free.

    Dhariwal urged all finance ministers to remain united on all these issues and raise them vigorously in the proposed GST Council meeting on May 28 before Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

    All the states agreed that the Centre should release GST compensation amount of their share to the states while respecting the spirit of cooperative federalism so as to make up for the revenue deficit due to the states due to COVID-19, a statement said.

    The ministers also agreed to increase the additional lending limit to 5 per cent.

    The meeting was attended by the finance ministers of six states – Amit Mitra (West Bengal), Manpreet Singh Badal (Punjab), Rameshwar Oraon (Jharkhand), T S Singh Deo (Chhattisgarh), K N Balagopal (Kerala) and Palanivel Thiagarajan (Tamil Nadu).

    Mitra was the convener of the meeting.

  • Rajasthan BJP MLA Gautam Lal Meena dies of COVID, CM Ashok Gehlot expresses condolences

    By ANI
    DHARIAWAD: BJP MLA from Dhariawad constituency, Gautam Lal Meena passed away at a hospital where he was undergoing treatment for COVID-19 on Wednesday. Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot condoled Meena’s demise.

    धरियावद (प्रतापगढ़) से भाजपा विधायक श्री गौतमलाल मीणा के कोरोना संक्रमण से असामयिक निधन की जानकारी बेहद दुखद है। ईश्वर से प्रार्थना है कि शोकाकुल परिजनों, स्व. श्री मीणा के समर्थकों तथा मित्रों को यह आघात सहने की शक्ति दें एवं दिवंगत आत्मा को शांति प्रदान करें। #Rajasthan
    — Ashok Gehlot (@ashokgehlot51) May 19, 2021

    “The news of untimely demise of MLA Gautam Lal Meena from Dhariawad (Pratapgarh) due to corona infection is very saddening. I pray to god to give the grieving family members, the supportes and friends of Shri Meena the power to bear the brunt and to give the peace to the departed soul. #Rajasthan”, Gehlot tweeted.

    According to the Union Health Ministry, there are 1,59,455 active coronavirus cases in Rajasthan while 7,080 people succumbed to the infection.

  • Rajasthan receives rains triggered by cyclone Tauktae

    By PTI
    JAIPUR: Several places in Rajasthan recorded rainfall triggered by’ Jaipur, May 18 (PTI) Several areas in Rajasthan recorded light to moderate rainfall triggered by cyclone Tauktae during the last 24 hours, IMD officials said on Tuesday, adding that heavy rainfall is likely on Wednesday.

    Bhilwara recorded the maximum of 50 mm rainfall followed by Chittorgarh which received 25 mm rainfall, as per the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

    According to the Met department, Dabok received 20.6 mm rainfall, Vanasthali 20 mm, Sawai Madhopur 16 mm, Bundi 14 mm and Ajmer 11.8 mm rainfall in the past 24 hours.

    It predicted extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places in Udaipur, Sirohi, Rajsamand, Dungarpur, Pali and Jalore districts on Tuesday.

    Heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely to occur at isolated areas in several districts including Jaipur on Wednesday, the department said.

  • Cyclone Tauktae: Amit Shah speaks to Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan CMs

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday spoke to the chief ministers of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan and took stock of the situation in their states after the landfall of Cyclone Tauktae, official sources said.

    They said the minister talked to the CMs over the telephone and extended support of the Union government in aiding and mitigating challenges that arose in the aftermath of the ‘extremely severe cyclonic storm’ battering the costal areas on the country’s western shore along the Arabian Sea.

    Home Ministry officials said Shah spoke to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, his Gujarat counterpart Vijay Rupani and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.

    ALSO READ: Cyclone Tauktae leaves behind trail of destruction; 4 dead in Gujarat

    They said that while Rajasthan did not face the direct brunt of the cyclone, a number of districts were stated to have witnessed rains and strong wings as an after effect of the furious sea storm.

    The landfall process of the eye of Tauktae, which hit the Gujarat coast in Saurashtra region between Diu and Una, ended around midnight, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.