: In spite of restrictions imposed by the district administration, there was no notable decrease in the number of bedridden patients who were taken to the venue of the Chief Minister’s Mass Contact Programme — ‘Karuthal’ — at the Malabar Christian College grounds, here, on Monday.
Though there was some confusion among security personnel and screening staff on permitting such candidates, the Chief Minister expressed his willingness to meet them.
Earlier, the district administration had decided to discourage the entry of bedridden persons to the programme as it had proved to be a tough task to manage them in previous mass contact programmes.
Officials said the Chief Minister’s office too had directed them to screen such persons and find alternative measures to address their grievances.
However, persons who took bedridden patients to the venue claimed he main advantage of the programme was that they could have direct interaction with the Chief Minister.
“We had registered through the proper channel, but, no one came in search of the complainant at home,” said V. Sandeep, who escorted a bedridden patient from Thamarassery.
Official sources said the Revenue team led by two Deputy Collectors had visited several bedridden patients at their home to address their grievances directly. “The regulation was introduced this time mainly to support the hapless patients and not to discourage anyone from attending the programme,” they said.
