Recovering Hazare receives premier's message

Lily

B.R
Staff member
New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday sent a "get well soon" message to anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare.

A senior official from the Prime Minister's Office conveyed Singh's message along with a bouquet of flowers to Hazare.

The Gandhian is currently recovering at Gurgaon's Medanta Medicity hospital following his 12-day successful hunger strike that ended on Sunday.

He was taken to Delhi's southern suburb Gurgaon immediately after he broke his fast by a team of Medanta doctors, including its chairman-cum-managing director Dr. Naresh Trehan. The Medanta team observed Hazare's health during the period he went without food to demand parliamentary commitment to a strong anti-corruption legislation.

The get well message from Singh was preceded by a visit to the hospital by Science and Technology minister Vilasrao Deshmukh who visited Hazare on Monday and spent close to 20 minutes. Deshmukh played a crucial role in leading the way for the activist to break his fast.

Doctors attending to Hazare said that his condition was satisfactory and that he was on a fast path to recovery which may see him walking out of hospital by this weekend.

Liquid diet

"He [Hazare] is doing well and recovering fast. We started by giving him a liquid diet and are now giving him semi-liquids. All his vital parameters are functioning normally. His blood pressure and pulse rate are also fast returning to normal," said a doctor attending to Hazare.

For the first time since Hazare started his fast on August 16, he ate "poha" — a dish of flattened rice. Besides medicines, he is also being given fresh juice.

"Gradually, we will shift him to solid food once his system is ready to digest it," the doctor said, adding that he is doing light exercise, like walking in his room, and spending time either resting or watching television.

Hazare weighed 72kg before starting his fast and had started losing about half a kilo every day during it. He lost around 6kg but is not shedding weight any more.
 
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