'Centre did not give permission to visit Kuwait', claims Kerala health minister Veena George

NEW DELHI: Kerala health minister Veena George on Friday said it was 'unfortunate' that the Centre didn't allow her to travel to Kuwait despite most of the victims of the fire tragedy were from Kerala.
"It is very unfortunate that we did not get the consent (to travel to Kuwait). More than half of the people who died were from Kerala. The majority of the people who are under treatment are also from Kerala," said George.
Earlier, the Kerala government decided that George and State Mission Director (NHM) Jeevan Babu would travel to Kuwait monitor the treatment of the injured and the repatriation of the deceased's bodies.
Meanwhile, Congress also criticised the Centre's decision to deny permission George to travel to Kuwait. Kerala's leader of Opposition in the state assembly V D Satheesan said it was "unfortunate" that the state health minister was not allowed to travel to Kuwait.
"A representative of the state government would have helped to better coordinate the relief efforts. The state's representative would also have been able to help the Union government carry out the relief efforts. The Central government ought to have immediately given clearance to the state health minister. It was a wrong message from the Centre's side," said Satheesan .
A fire broke out in a six-story building in Mangaf city, Kuwait, on Wednesday, resulting in the death of at least 48 people, including 45 Indians.
The victims include 23 from Kerala, seven from Tamil Nadu, three from Uttar Pradesh, two from Odisha, and one each from Bihar, Punjab, Karnataka, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Jharkhand, and Haryana.
Around 176 Indian workers were residing in the housing facility, and 33 are currently hospitalized, according to the Indian embassy.
"The Embassy did not give us the exact data on the number of seriously injured people. The data that we have collected from there is that a total of 7 people have been admitted to the hospital and 4 of them are from Kerala, but this is not officially declared. The purpose of my visit (to Kuwait) was that I wanted to be with the injured and bring their needs to the attention of the Central Government," said George.
A special Indian Air Force aircraft carried the mortal remains of the 45 Indian victims and landed at Cochin airport on Friday.
Meanwhile, minister of state for external affairs, Kirti Vardhan Singh went to Kuwait on Thursday and interacted with Indian nationals undergoing treatment at hospital.