Mangaluru: The Minister for Health and family welfare, UT Khader, who was accused of misleading the assembly during the recently concluded assembly session by the speaker Kagodu Thimmappa, has written to him, in an attempt to clarify the accusations.

In his letter, he denied furnishing any wrong information to the legislative assembly in the recently concluded session of the legislature.

The letter was made available to the media on Sunday.  The issue was the revision of pay of Doctors on contract. The proposal was doing the rounds of various ministries from February 2013 to December 2014. The file reached the finance department on December 17 after the law department furnished its opinion. They raised several queries the letter said

 The department had recommended AICTE pay scale consequent to strike by doctors in August 2014, the minister said. Following discussions in the Assembly and demand to increase pay for doctors, his department sent another proposal to finance department to enhance allowance to general medical officers from Rs 5,000-Rs 10,000 and specialists ranging from Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000. This was sent to the finance department on December 30, he noted.

Khader said that he has clarified the issue raised by Kagodu Thimmappa with CM Siddaramaiah, Khader said he had even spoken to the Speaker over phone. “I have conveyed to him that I will meet him (the Speaker) personally to explain the matter,” Khader said. The Speaker who had written to the CM in this issue had maintained that the minister is answerable for his acts of omission and commission in the assembly and officials could not be blamed for it.