MK Stalin says Central team terming Tamil Nadu dengue deaths as 'minimal' is insulting

Chennai: Objecting to the remark of a central team member who termed the 40 dengue deaths in Tamil Nadu “minimal”, the DMK said on Saturday that the comment was insulting and “trivialising” the lives of the people of the state.

Ashutosh Biswas, a professor of medicine at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences and member of the central team deputed to examine the dengue situation in Tamil Nadu, said on Friday that the 40 deaths since January were “minimal”.

“It is nothing…no need to create panic,” he said.

Referring to the remark, DMK working president MK Stalin asked, “How could he express such an opinion? Who gave him courage to say so?”

“The remark is trivialising the lives of the Tamil people and it is insulting,” the leader of opposition in the Assembly said.

Stalin asked if Chief Minister K Palaniswamy too “accepted that view”. He questioned how the chief minister was not objecting to the view, which denigrated those who died.

Stating that the Tamil Nadu government while seeking Rs 256 crore from the Centre to tackle the dengue situation had mentioned in its report that “18 people” died of dengue, Stalin said it was a “lie”.

He demanded the ouster of Biswas from the central team, and suggested that the central team avoid making such remarks.

The central team should give recommendations to the Union government in a way the state government gets the funding sought to check the spread of dengue, he said.

“I urge Union minister JP Nadda to advise the central panel to undertake inspection in such a way to help eradicate dengue.”