Ragi Khalsa was given VIP treatment: OP Soni

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, April 4

As an audio clip of Padma Shri Bhai Nirmal Singh Khalsa, former ‘Hazoori Ragi’ of Darbar Sahib talking to his family members, hours before his death went viral on social media, the hospital authorities stated that in fact the patient was given “VIP treatment”.

In the audio, Khalsa, who had tested positive on March 31 and died at 4.30 am, was saying that no one attended to him for four hours. He said no medicine was given to him and if this continued he would commit suicide.

After a meeting with officials, Medical Education and Research Minister Om Parkash Soni said, “After the patient was found positive, he was given VIP treatment and kept in a separate room instead of isolation ward.”

He said doctors had given first dose of medicine and second was to be administered four hours later. Though there is no vaccine for the treatment of coronavirus patient but everything was done to save the patient.”

He said as the patient went into a state of panic, his condition started worsening and ultimately became the cause of death. He said, “The college at present is fully equipped. It has 400 PPE kits, 9,000 N95 masks, 1.25 lakh three-layer masks and 30 ventilators. Further purchases are being made daily and the stock is being built.”

Talking about the protest by nurses and paramedics regarding the non-availability of masks and PPE kits, he said as per the Government of India guidelines, these kits are to be given to only those who have to visit the rooms or wards where corona patients are admitted.