New Delhi:
Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar will go to Mumbai for a health check-up and if needed, may even go abroad for further treatment, his office said. Before heading to Mumbai, he called a meeting of his government's senior ministers at his private residence in Dona Paula near here and formed a cabinet advisory committee to take administrative decisions in his absence.
Parrikar was admitted to Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai on February 15 where he received treatment for a pancreatic ailment. He was discharged on February 22, and on the same day attended a session of the Goa Legislative Assembly, where he presented the budget and made a brief speech. The session was truncated to four days owing to Parrikar's illness. On February 25, the chief minister was admitted to Goa Medical College and Hospital after he suffered mild dehydration.
He was discharged from the hospital on March 1. "Today, the chief minister is travelling to Mumbai for further medical checkup and based on the doctor's advice may travel overseas for further treatment," the chief minister's office said in a statement issued here.
Ahead of his Mumbai visit, Parrikar met senior ministers -- Francis D'Souza of the BJP and Vijai Sardesai of the Goa Forward Party (GFP). The chief minister formed a cabinet advisory committee comprising Sardesai, Sudin Dhavalikar of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and D'Souza, which would advise the state administration on important matters and financial sanctions, GFP leader Sardesai said.
The MGP and the GFP are allies of the BJP-led Goa government. "Financial sanctions of more than Rs 50 lakh would be cleared by this committee. The mechanism has been worked out to avoid paralysis of the administration in the chief minister's absence," Sardesai said.Â
