First time in four months, ailing Parrikar attends meeting at secretariat on first day of 2019

Panaji, Jan 1: Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, who is suffering from a pancreatic ailment, arrived at the state secretariat on the first working day of the year. Parrikar was welcomed by party workers and leaders.

Parrikar has been recuperating at his private residence near here since October 14 and this is the first time he has moved out of the house on December 16 to inspect an under-construction bridge on Mandovi River. The opposition Congress has been alleging that Parrikar's ailment and his absence from office had brought the coastal state's administration to a standstill.

A day before Goa Governor Mridula Sinhasummoned a three-day session of the state Assembly from January 29 to 31. The session is crucial in view of the prolonged illness of Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, who has not stepped into his office at the state Secretariat for several months, after he was diagnosed for advanced pancreatic cancer in February 2018.