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Every poor family may get a mobile

August 8, 2012

New Delhi, August 8: In what could turn out to be its calling card for the 2014 general elections, the government is finalizing a Rs 7,000 crore scheme to give one mobile phone to every family living below the poverty line.

Sources in the PMO said the scheme—Har Hath Mein Phone—expected to be announced by PM Manmohan Singh on August 15, will not only aim to give away mobiles to around six million BPL households, but also provide 200 minutes of free local talk time.

Top government managers involved in formulating the scheme want to sell it as a major empowerment initiative of the UPA 2. While the move will ensure contact with the beneficiaries of welfare programmes worth thousands of crores, there is also a view the scheme will provide an opportunity for the UPA to open a direct line of communication with a sizable population that plays an active role in polls.

The scheme may be funded from the telecom department's universal service obligation (USO) funds. According to a source, 50% of the cost is likely to come from the bidder who gets the right to provide the service and the remaining from the USO fund. The fund is meant to be used to meet USO aims by providing access to phone services to people in rural and remote areas at affordable prices. The resources for its implementation are raised through a service levy fixed at 5% of the adjusted gross revenue of all telecom service providers except the pure value added service providers like internet, voice mail, email etc.

According to estimates, the scheme will involve a monthly expenditure of Rs 100 per cellphone. The government is also exploring the possibility of getting service charges subsidized through competitive bidding.

The PMO is directly involved with the Planning Commission and telecom ministry in giving a final shape to the scheme. The government has already launched a national infrastructure initiative under the PM's advisor Sam Pitroda that aims to link 2,50,000 panchayats across the country within 16 months through internet so that basic communication facilities can be provided to the rural masses.

BPL


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Agencies
May 24,2020

Lucknow, May 24: The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has banned Corona patients from keeping mobile phones inside isolation wards of COVID-19 hospitals in the state.

Patients admitted in dedicated L-2 and L-3 COVID hospitals will no longer will allowed to take mobile phones along with them in the isolation wards in order to check the spread of the infection.

According to an order issued by the state government late on Saturday night, two mobile phones will now be available with the ward in-charge of the COVID care centres so that patients and talk to their family members and administration if required.

Further, the orders specify that the mobile numbers should be communicated to the family members of the patients also.

Director General Medical Education, K.K. Gupta, who issued the order, has informed all concerned officials and directors of dedicated COVID hospitals.

"To facilitate the communication between COVID-19 patients admitted in clinics, with their family members, or anyone else, ensure that two dedicated mobile phones while adhering to infection prevention norms, are kept with ward in-charge of COVID care centre," the order said.

According to the latest data available on the website of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Uttar Pradesh now has 5,735 cases of Corona positive patients and the numbers have been growing steadily since the past ten days.

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Agencies
March 6,2020

Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 6: A 12-member team from Telangana on Friday visited Kerala to study how the state contained the spread of novel coronavirus.

Interacting with the team, Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja said, "The team will be given a presentation at National Health Mission and they will visit Alappuzha district to know how the health facilities are set up by Kerala Health Department on the grassroots level."

"The team comprising doctors and senior health officials will visit the control room set up by the Health Department and also will attend daily review meetings. They will also visit an isolation ward in the hospital and interact with doctors and nurses, " the minister said.

She added, "Kerala model is being followed by other states too. All states are working together and the country as a whole is fighting the coronavirus. They are sharing our experience. All of India is standing together. Contact tracing and isolation is the most important part."

Dr Mahaboob Khan, part of the Telangana team told media persons, that the discussion with the health minister was fruitful.

"Kerala was the first state in India where a positive coronavirus case was reported. All three positive cases reported have been discharged after testing negative. So we wanted to study how Kerala was able to contain it and the health system in place here, " he said.

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News Network
June 29,2020

New Delhi, Jun 29: A disturbing video of a Covid-19 patient, speaking his last words, after his oxygen supply was allegedly cut off, has surfaced on social media. The patient reportedly died after indicating that the oxygen supply to him was cut off despite his requests.

The video has a 35-year-old Covid-19 patient bidding good-bye to his family, from a government hospital bed in Hyderabad. The patient Ravi Kumar can be seen speaking out against the negligence of of the medical staff in providing ventilator support to him when he needed it the most.

The video has led to social media outrage as it attracted public attention towards plight of patients in government hospitals

"I am not able to breathe, I pleaded but they did not continue oxygen for the last three hours. I am not able to breathe anymore daddy, it's like my heart has stopped, Bye daddy. Bye to all, daddy," these were apparently the final words of the man, who spoke in his local dialect, and shared on social media.

Several reports have claimed that the man had been admitted to government Chest hospital, after several private hospitals refused to admit him. His ventilator support was allegedly taken off in the hospital, after which he recorded the video message.

The victim’s family shared the video message for the public to know of the negligence.

Reports have it that Ravi’s covid-19 report, which testes positive, was given to family a day after his death, when 30 of his family members performed the final rites, thus making all of them vulnerable to the virus. Ravi’s father has alleged that the test was done on June 24 and Ravi died on June 26, while the report was given to them on June 27.

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