UDF drops proposed hartal in Kerala tomorrow

Thiruvananthapuram, July 17 (UNI) The dawn-to-dusk hartal, called by the Congress-led opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala tomorrow to protest the ''inaction'' of the government in taking preventive measures to check the spread of viral fever, has been withdrawn to avoid hardships to the people.

Announcing this at a news conference here today, UDF Chairman and Leader of the Opposition Oommen Chandy said the UDF decided to call off the proposed hartal in view of the havoc caused by the monsoon in the state.

Though a situation existed in the state warranting agitations like hartal, it had been decided to drop the move, considering the wishes of the people, he added.

Alleging that the government miserably failed in tackling the viral fever outbreak, Mr Chandy claimed that it had not given financial assistance to the families of those who died due to fever and free ration to the affected families.

Though the media had reported that as many as 562 people had died in fever-related incidents, the government data was only 172, he said, charging the government with taking the incidents lightly.

If the Left Democratic Front government had implemented the UDF's health insurance scheme, it could have been a great relief to the people at this worst situation, he added.

UNI