The National Students' Union of India (NSUI) Manipur has demanded Health Minister L Jayantakumar to resign from his cabinet portfolio.

The student body demanded the minister’s resignation “considering the negligence and unplanned policies and programmes and not paving effective ways for providing public healthcare system during COVID-19 pandemic”.

NSUI Manipur president P Bankimchandra Meitei said in a release that due to negligence, failures and lack of proper strategies to implement during COVID-19 pandemic, many non-COVID patients have lost their lives. The health minister should take the present health crisis seriously. If not, then he should hand over his medical portfolio to some other deserving and abled legislator, it stated.

While the number of COVID-19 cases and related deaths are increasing unstoppably, non-COVID patients are facing lots of struggle due to lack of treatment facilities, the release stated. It stated that the government should make arrangements and one special hospital should be opened, be it RIMS or JNIMS exclusively for treatment of non-COVID patients during this critical period.

Mentioning the recent incidents where two mothers died during delivery, the release stated that denying treatment is an act of harassment and discrimination. Such instances create chaos and fear in the mind of the people, the release stated.

The organisaton also appealed to health professionals and departments concerned to collectively fight the prevailing pandemic under an idea of equality, inclusiveness and transparency, it added.