Fourth Goa Minister hospitalised in two months

Panaji, July 26 (IANS) Following the hospitalisation of another Goa Cabinet Minister Francis D'Souza earlier this week for an undisclosed illness, an ailing Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has decided to handle his portfolios in his absence, according to a government notification issued on Wednesday.

D'Souza -- assigned Urban Development, Law and Judiciary portfolios -- is the fourth the Minister to be hospitalised over the last two months.

The notification also said that Parrikar would also be handling Power Minister Pandurang Madkaikar's portfolio in the latter's absence.

A former Deputy Chief MInister, D'Souza, who was being treated for a renal ailment in the recent past, was hospitalised earlier this week in a Mumbai hospital and has failed to attend a single day of the ongoing monsoon session of the Goa Assembly.

Madkaikar was hospitalised, also in a Mumbai hospital, after suffering from a brain stroke last month. Family sources said that the Power Minister continues to be in a state of coma ever since his hospitalisation.

Public Works Department Sudin Dhavalikar, who was hospitalised for a liver-related surgery in Mumbai last week, returned to Goa two days back, but did not participate in the assembly proceedings.

Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar is undergoing treatment for advanced pancreatitis and returned last month from the US, where he was being treated for nearly three months.