Latest news with #Mahatma
Time of India
a day ago
- Business
- Time of India
State govt transfers several top IAS officers in major reshuffle
T'puram: In a major reshuffle involving top IAS officers, govt transferred several officials, including four district collectors. Priyanka G, Palakkad collector, will be the new Ernakulam collector. Madhavikutty M S is the new Palakkad collector. Chetan Kumar Meena, additional resident commissioner at Kerala House in New Delhi, was appointed as the new Kottayam collector. Dinesan Cheruvat, director of panchayats, is the new Idukki collector. Among the reshuffle of other bureaucrats, K Vasuki, secretary, labour and skills department, was transferred and posted as secretary, general education department. Shanavas S, director of general education, was posted as special secretary, labour and skills department. The officer will hold full additional charge of the post of director of panchayats. Sheeba George, additional secretary, revenue department, was posted as additional secretary, health and family welfare department. Chithra S, additional secretary and officer on special duty, local self govt department, is now the additional secretary, general education department. Geetha A, joint commissioner, land revenue, was transferred and posted as additional secretary, revenue department. Geromic George, on return from study leave, is posted as principal director, local self govt department. Umesh NSK, Ernakulam collector, is now the director of general education. The officer will hold the full additional charge of managing director, Kerala Financial Corporation. V Vigneshwari, Idukki collector, was transferred and posted as additional secretary, agriculture department. The officer will hold the full additional charges of deputy project director, Kerala Climate Resilient Agri-Value Chain Modernization Project (KERA) and director, Centre for Continuing Education Kerala. John V Samuel, Kottayam collector, was posted as director, state water transport department. Nizamudeen A, mission director, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, is now the director, Kerala Institute of Local Administration. Sreedhanya Suresh, inspector general of registration, was posted as additional director (general), tourism. Aswathy Srinivas, managing director, Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation Limited, is the new additional resident commissioner, Kerala House, New Delhi. The officer will hold the full additional charge of director, Kerala state insurance department. Arun J O, director, backward classes development department, was posted as chief operating officer, Township Project Wayanad. Meera K, sub collector Fort Kochi, is now the director, survey and land records department. Mithun Premraj, sub collector Ottapalam, is transferred and posted as joint commissioner, land revenue. Misal Sagar Bharat, sub collector, Mananthavady, is now the deputy secretary and officer on special duty, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and backward classes development department. Harshil R Meena, sub collector, Kozhikode, was posted as director, Environment and Climate Change. Jayakrishnan V M, sub collector, Devikulam, is the new managing director, Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation Limited.
NDTV
5 days ago
- Politics
- NDTV
"Not A Theatre": Madhya Pradesh Bans Protests, Slogans In State Assembly
Bhopal: Can elected representatives protest in Madhya Pradesh assembly? The state secretariat has answered in the negative. The assembly has banned all forms of sloganeering, symbolic demonstrations within the premises ahead of the monsoon session, which begins Monday, sparking a political row. In the last few sessions, the Congress had pulled out all stops in its protest theatre. One MLA wore a black mask claiming the government was hiding its face from the questions of the public. Another turned up with a fake snake, accusing the administration of coiling around job vacancies. Skeleton costumes and gold bricks were waved as metaphors for corruption. Chains were used to highlight debt. A lone BAP Party MLA even staged a fast at the feet of Gandhi's statue, drawing inspiration from the Mahatma himself. Now, all of that, says the government, is over. The new rule, under Standing Order 94(2), forbids symbolic items, masks, horns, protests, turning the Assembly into a 'silence zone'. This triggered outrage among Congress legislators. Hemant Katare, Deputy Leader of the Opposition, termed the move authoritarian. "They've even banned giving media bytes. If people can't see what's happening inside, if slogans of Mahatma Gandhi and Baba Saheb Ambedkar are objectionable now, then are we in a state of emergency?" he asked. He called on the Speaker to withdraw the order, claiming it seems to be issued under government pressure. Congress leader Dr Govind Singh echoed the sentiment, warning that if MLAs cannot raise issues in the House premises, they will raise them elsewhere even in jail if need be. Former minister and senior MLA Lakhan Ghanghoria called the order unconstitutional and an attack on the democratic right to protest. "If the Hon'ble Speaker has forgotten his own years in opposition, he must be reminded of democratic traditions," he added. Ironically, the official logic behind the move is to preserve the "dignity of democracy." But the opposition claims democracy without dissent is a mere monologue. They point out that while earlier protests may have bordered on the theatrical, they at least brought public attention to real issues. BJP MLA and former Protem Speaker Rameshwar Sharma defended the order, saying the Assembly was meant for serious constitutional discussion, not for "wrestling and chaos." He said that protests belong in places like Roshanpura or Dussehra grounds, not the Assembly. "The House is not a theatre," he added. Ahead of the monsoon session, legislators in Madhya Pradesh have submitted a total of 3,377 questions, showing a marked interest in the Assembly's shift towards the e-Vidhan format. Of these, 2,076 questions were submitted online, the remaining 1,301 questions were filed offline. The Assembly Secretariat has directed government departments to provide answers within a set deadline so that legislators receive accurate and timely responses during the proceedings.
Time of India
23-07-2025
- Health
- Time of India
Charitable hospitals must comply with govt health scheme GR: Minister
1 2 3 Caption: Health minister Prakash Abitkar with Ayushman Bharat Mission Maharashtra president Om Prakash Shete and MLA Kailash Patil Pune: State health minister Prakash Abitkar on Wednesday said trust-run charitable hospitals must comply with the govt resolution on their mandatory empanelment under the Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Jan Arogya Yojana (MJPJAY). He said the govt had taken multiple steps recently to ensure that the issues raised by the hospitals were addressed, but the opposition from facilities continued. "When benefits provided by the govt under various schemes applicable to trust-run charitable hospitals are happily accepted, it is their duty to provide treatment to poor patients under various govt-run schemes," he said in the meeting with representatives from the trust-run hospitals at Yashada. You Can Also Check: Pune AQI | Weather in Pune | Bank Holidays in Pune | Public Holidays in Pune Visibly upset over hospitals sending clerical staffers as representatives, Abitkar said, "I expected decision-makers from the respective hospitals to attend this meeting; but they sent clerical staff. This is not done. The message cannot be delivered effectively by the lower-rung staff to the administration." The health minister said, "We are revising the treatment package rates, and hospitals will benefit from this as well. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 15 most beautiful women in the world Undo There was no revision in rates since 2013. So, there were some objections. We have now addressed these. The intention of the govt behind such a GR is simply to provide affordable treatment to patients. Charitable hospitals gain benefits, be it land at nominal rates or benefits under taxes, because they come under the trusts act. Otherwise, they should have started private hospitals." Close to 50 trust-run hospitals come under the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act, 1950. According to it, these hospitals are expected to set aside 2% of their profits from income for the Indigent Patients Fund (IPF) and 10% of the beds for the poor. In exchange, the hospitals gain tax benefits under 80G and seek donations as a charity institute. A total of 11 hospitals from Pune, under the Association of Hospitals (AOH), filed a writ petition in Bombay high court earlier this month. Advocate Manjusha Kulkarni, secretary and legal advisor of AOH, said, "AOH has 11 trust-run hospitals as its members. We filed the writ petition because the govt cannot mandate the hospitals to be empanelled under the MJPJAY or the PMJAY. These are voluntary schemes. The schedule of charges under these schemes is pathetically low. With such charges, we would not be able to cope with the technology and provide the kind of services we do." When asked if the govt would take any strict action against the hospitals refusing to get empanelled under the MPJAY, Abitkar said, "As a govt authority, we have put forth our stand on the issue. We will hear what the hospitals have to say now. The current GR and the law are in line with previous court orders. If they still have any objections, we will address those. Our stand is very clear, and so we are not worried about the writ petition. " Aannasaheb Chavan, chief executive officer, MJPJAY, said, "The MJPJAY ensures Rs5 lakh insurance per family annually, and an additional Rs5 lakh coverage is provided to citizens above 70 years. We have decentralised the registration process by empowering district collectors to empanel hospitals. We have about 2,180 hospitals empanelled with us right now. We aim to increase this to 4,200 hospitals in the next two months. The packages have been revised to include 1,356 treatments, which will double in a few months. The govt is positive about revising the cap on various treatment packages as well. The disbursal of payments will also be smoothened.
Time of India
26-06-2025
- Health
- Time of India
871 denied treatment under MJPJAY by hospitals
Mumbai: Over five years, 871 patients, 55 of them from Mumbai, were denied treatment by hospitals under Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Jan Arogya Yojana, prompting them to approach district-level officials. This data is part of a response to an RTI query filed by activist Jitendra Ghadge. "There are around 6,500 hospitals in the state, but only 2,019 (31%) are enrolled in this scheme. Even empanelled hospitals are denying treatment to the poor. This shows serious flaws in implementation of the scheme," said Ghadge. Officials said the data is misleading if read without context. "From 2019-20 to 2024-25, 58 lakh cases received pre-authorisation for treatment under the scheme. In comparison, 871 complaints are very few and exceptional," said Aannasaheb Chavan, CEO of MJPJAY. He said many of these cases were resolved immediately after district coordinators intervened. You Can Also Check: Mumbai AQI | Weather in Mumbai | Bank Holidays in Mumbai | Public Holidays in Mumbai Dr Rameshwar Kumbhar, who heads the grievance cell, said, "The scheme covers only specific treatments and ailments. In some cases, patients file complaints against hospitals for not providing procedures that are not covered under the scheme." With 181 complaints, Sangli saw the highest number of patients who involved local officials. An official there said, "There are many procedures for which the scheme provides insufficient cover. In such cases, hospitals ask patients to pay the rest... agitated patients or relatives complain. In many cases, we make the hospital reimburse the out-of-pocket amount." —Eshan Kalyanikar
The Hindu
16-06-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Anganwadis seek extension of welfare schemes to them
Anganwadi workers and Helpers staged a protest, on the call given by the Anganwadi Workers and Helpers Union, an affiliate of the CITU, at the Gandhi statue near GVMC and placed a memorandum at the feet of the Mahatma, on Monday, demanding implementation of government welfare schemes. The other demands include: stop showing them as 'government employees' in the official record as they were only being paid a honorarium. Demanding an immediate response from the government to their demands, Union leader K. Venkata Lakshmi said that the wages of the Anganwadis were not hiked for the past six years though the prices of essential commodities were skyrocketing. She said that the Anganwadis were living a hand-to-mouth existence with their wages remaining stagnant and prices spiralling. She sought that the government should recognise the services of the Anganwadi workers and helpers and extend the benefit of welfare schemes like Thalliki Vandanam, pensions, rice cards and housing to them. Union honorary secretary Mani, honorary advisor Brundavathi, district general secretary Devi, treasurer K. Padmavathi, district leaders Sridevi, Satyavathi, Begum, Sivalakshmi, Venkatalakshmi and Durga were among those who participated.
