But notably absent from Abbott’s call for legislation that would prevent gun violence in his state were demands for stricter gun control laws. The shooting Saturday at Allen Premium Outlets was the second recent mass shooting in the state, after a gunman shot and killed five people at a house in Cleveland, Texas, on April 28.
“People want a quick solution. The long-term solution here is to address the mental health issue,” Abbott said, noting that there have been mass shootings in states with varying levels of gun control.
Critics of the idea of treating gun violence largely as a public health issue have noted that the nation doesn’t have enough mental health professionals, mental health facilities or funding for either mass screening or treatment. Abbott said his state had added “almost $25 billion to address mental health” in recent years and will look to add more for Texas’ rural communities and for schoolchildren.
Meanwhile Sunday, Democratic State Sen. Roland Gutierrez slammed Abbott and other state leaders for their response to the shooting, particularly for the time it is taking for information about the shooting to be made public. Official information on the Allen shooting was still scarce Sunday morning.
“We are in a situation in this state where we’re — as if you’re living in communist Russia. The governor, the lieutenant governor, and people like them and their law enforcement agencies refuse to tell us the truth as to what’s going on here,” Gutierrez, who represents Uvalde, Texas, the site of a school shooting last year, said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“It’s just a sad state of affairs that we’re living in. This is not the Texas miracle that Greg Abbott likes to call it,” he added.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )
Mental health issues remain unaddressed because of stigma, lack of general awareness and dearth of trained health professionals, says Secretary H&ME Dr. Bhupinder Kumar
Asif Iqbal
Srinagar, May 1 (GNS): The Himalayan state of Jammu and Kashmir, witnessing a complicated political situation over the decades coupled with natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods including impacts from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, has been facing a colossal mental burden, as per a recent paper making it to the prestigious global journal Lancet.
The paper titled ‘Reducing the mental health treatment gap in Kashmir: scaling up to maximise the potential of telepsychiatry’, assessed by GNS, says that the area has a huge mental health burden and that authorities have tried to address this by increasing the number of trained mental health professionals, despite these efforts the gap remains largely unaddressed.
To tackle mental health morbidity, the study has suggested up-scaling of telepsychiatry in the region.
“It is especially relevant in regions such as Jammu and Kashmir that have faced political conflict and natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, and including impacts from the ongoing Covid19 pandemic,” the study reveals.
The study paper says that the policymakers have also initiated the Tele MANAS centre in Kashmir, where mental health needs are being prioritised by introducing more professionals who can provide services in local Kashmiri and Urdu languages.
“Since its launch on 4th November, 2022, the centre has received 4000 calls as people with mental illness from every district of the Union Territory are seeking professional help.”
“These numbers convey the enormous demand and needs but also show that TELE Manas is acceptable to people and they are initiating contact with mental health providers. The current step is expected to ensure cost-and-time-effective and comprehensive services for the poorly served population of the region, strengthening mental health, an area that has been historically neglected in Jammu and Kashmir”, remarks the study authored by Dr Arshad Hussain, Secretary Health and Medical Education Bhupinder Kumar alongside two other veteran psychiatrists Manasi Kumar, and Fazle Roub.
When contacted, Secretary Health and Medical Education (H&ME) Dr. Bhupinder Kumar, who is part of the study paper, remarked that there have been many underlying gaps vis-à-vis the need to access mental health in Kashmir. “This paper mainly talks about the measures aimed at bridging of these gaps, for we have dearth of trained mental health care workers, be it counselors, be it clinical psychologists or the psychiatrists who might otherwise help us in this pursuit”, Kumar was however quick to add that it may be due to regional variations as well. “If we talk about Jammu and Kashmir only, we’ll get to see variation between Kashmir and Jammu, likewise in Kashmir the variation between Srinagar and any other district.”
“The mental health issues remain unaddressed also because of stigma and lack of general awareness which results that many people face issues of mental awareness which depletes the quality, productivity and efficiency of life of people sufferings from these, not to talk how it affects their overall economic and financial situation”, Kumar said adding “To bridge this gap, a Tele-service by the name of Tele-Manas was launched by GoI in November 2022 in Kashmir, which runs on a toll-free number round the clock throughout the year. Our counselors receive calls on the number with due diligence to maintain the confidentiality of the callers’ and in turn counsel anyone in need and we have been receiving calls from people who are facing different situations particular to them.”
“Since the time we have started this helpline, we have received more than ten thousand calls and off-late we have witnessed a trend that we are receiving repeat-callers (callers calling more than once) even as the duration of average call is also increasing. Though still in its infancy stage, it nevertheless has fetched us quite good results till we recruit and appoint more psychiatrists in our medical colleges. We have proposed a similar and separate call centre exclusive for Jammu to overcome linguistic barriers, if any, coming in way for an effective redressal of the issue.”
“Off-late we have been receiving a good number of calls from females as well and it would be apt to say there are more female callers as compared to male callers over a while now”, Kumar said adding this shows that there perhaps was some constraint or some sort of shyness by the females before this initiative was taken.”
Asked as from which region the calls have been more, Kumar said they have seen more calls from Kashmir as compared to Jammu. “If seen within Kashmir, Srinagar people have more calls followed by Anantnag, Baramulla and Pulwama and the other districts as well.”
“The acceptance of this paper is a testimony that it is an acknowledgement and an important step towards the expansion of tele-mental health services, otherwise we have a very acute shortage of psychiatrists as we have many districts where there is no trained psychiatrist at all.”
“This is a step towards the bigger pursuit and larger cause and hopefully we will see better results in coming times.”
“I genuinely and wholeheartedly appreciate and compliment all the doctors who have been part of this study paper”, Kumar further said. (GNS)
SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir has a huge mental health burden according to mental health experts. The authorities have tried to address and reduce the mental health treatment gap by increasing the number of trained mental health professionals and exploring the potential of telepsychiatry, a new study reveals.
This is the core team that literally rebuilt the Government Psychiatric Diseases Hospital Srinagar which is now known as IMHANS.
The paper titled Reducing the mental health treatment gap in Kashmir: scaling up to maximise the potential of telepsychiatry published in the latest issue of The Lancet, authored by Arshad Hussain and others suggests scaling up telepsychiatry especially in Jammu and Kashmir to fill the gap.
To tackle mental health morbidity, the study suggests scaling up telepsychiatry.
“It is especially relevant in regions such as Jammu and Kashmir that have faced political conflict and natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, and including impacts from the ongoing Covid19 pandemic,” the study reveals.
A professor and psychiatrist at IMHANS, Hussain writes in the paper that policymakers have also initiated the Tele MANAS centre in Kashmir, where mental health needs are being prioritised by introducing more professionals who can provide services in local Kashmiri and Urdu languages.
The other co-authors of the April 26, 2023 research include Bhupinder Kumar, Manasi Kumar, and Fazle Roub.
Dr Arshad Hussain (Psychiatry)
A nationwide initiative, the provision of free round-the-clock telepsychiatry services via Tele-Mental Health Assistance and Nationally Actionable Plan through States (Tele-MANAS) and a mobile app called MANAS Mitra, has been successful.
“Since its launch on 4th November 2022, the centre has received 4000 calls as people with mental illness from every district of the Union Territory are seeking professional help,” the paper reveals.
According to the study, these numbers convey the enormous demand and needs but also show that TELE Manas is acceptable to people and they are initiating contact with mental health providers.
“Every Tele MANAS centre would have the facility of trained psychiatrists and counsellors who would refer the patients in acute psychological distress to locally available Government runs mental health centres in case the need arises so,” according to the study.
“The current step is expected to ensure cost-and-time-effective and comprehensive services for the poorly served population of the region, strengthening mental health, an area that has been historically neglected in Jammu and Kashmir,” according to the study.
Mental health across the country remains a major concern because of myriad of challenges such as poor awareness of mental illness, stigma, high treatment gap and shortage of mental health professionals to manage widely prevalent mental illnesses.
The National Mental Health Survey of India reported that the point prevalence of any mental illness was 10.6 per cent while 5.1 per cent of the adult population was estimated to have some level of suicidality.
“Between 2012 and 2030, mental illnesses would cost India 1.03 trillion US dollars. The scenario is complicated by a very high treatment gap of 83 per cent along with only 0.75 psychiatrists per 100,000 population, even though the WHO desires at least three psychiatrists per 100,000 population,” the study predicts.
Similar efforts are made by WHO special initiative for mental health (2019–2023) which is targeting Bangladesh, Jordan, Paraguay, the Philippines, Ukraine, and Zimbabwe, the study reveals.
On the flip side, the paper’s lead author, a senior psychiatrist, has celebrated the publication of his paper in the prestigious Lancet. Though more than 100 of his papers have been published on different aspects of the mess he and his team have been tackling, this is the first that Lancet published.
“When I joined Psychiatry Lancet seemed stones through, I was on the path to full fill my dream, I got a Fogarty Fellowship at St Louis Washington Med School, Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology Fellowship and many travel Bursaries based on my research ideas, but destiny had other plans,” Arshad wrote on his Facebook. “I was challenged with changing the face of psychiatry in Kashmir with my colleagues and teachers we turned a burnt asylum into the Institute of Mental Health from the smallest department in GMC to one of the largest departments, it took some doing and always makes me feel accomplished, credit for this goes to every psychiatrist who worked there with zeal and enthusiasm.”
He added: “I did publish 100 odd papers but that never gave me a thrill because I never saw my name in Lancet. But today it happened even though nothing great, but the child within me is excited.”
New data on the impact of social media use on mental health across the world shows just how damaging it is to Gen Zers.
The study, conducted by the McKinsey Health Institute, reported: “Gen Zers, on average, are more likely than other generations to cite negative feelings about social media.”
Some 42,000 respondents in 26 countries across continents were surveyed about the four dimensions of health: mental, physical, social and spiritual. Gen Zers ranked worst across all of these categories.
Millennials were next, followed by Gen Xers and baby boomers. One in seven baby boomers said their mental health has declined over the past three years, compared with one in four Gen Z respondents.
Although millennials reported being more active on social media – 32% said they posted at least once a day – Gen Z spends the most amount of time on the apps, but more passively. The study shows that 35% of Gen Z respondents spend over two hours on social media daily compared with 24% of millennials and 14% of baby boomers.
Studies have shown that passive social media use, like endlessly scrolling on TikTok or Instagram, could be linked with declines in wellbeing over time. The negative impact of social media increases substantially for younger ages overall.
At 21%, female Gen Zers, in particular, were almost twice as likely to report poor mental health when compared with their male counterparts, 13% of whom reported poor mental health.
A higher portion of female Gen Zers reported poor or distorted body image and self-confidence as negative impacts of social media. The American Psychological Association found “reducing social media use significantly improves body image in teens and young adults”.
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But social media is not all bad – respondents across all generations overwhelmingly reported positive impacts of social media when it comes to self-expression and social connectivity.
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( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )
SRINAGAR: In a significant achievement towards providing quality mental healthcare for all, the UT level Tele-Mental Health Assistance and Networking Across States (Tele-MANAS) cell, established at the Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (IMHANS) in Srinagar, has received more than 10,000 calls since its launch in Jammu and Kashmir on November 4, 2022.
The first-of-its-kind mental health helpline is a three-tier system that has mental health counsellors, clinical psychologists, and psychiatrists available for patients’ calls. Doctors at IMHANS informed that since its launch, they have received 10,000 calls related to stress, drug addiction, suicidal tendencies, and anxiety.
Secretary of Health and Medical Education (H&ME), Bhupendra Kumar, elaborated on the significance of the Tele-MANAS cell in the UT, saying that telemedicine is a broader concept and teleconsultation is part of it. “People can call on the toll-free number and seek advice on mental health issues. Since its launch, the number of calls has increased, and the quality of calls has also. People who took the first consultation are calling for follow-ups also with psychologists and psychiatrists,” he said.
The Secretary added that Tele-MANAS would also be linked to the e-Sehaj portal where doctors can prescribe medicine. “We want people to use this facility, and Tele-MANAS is the way forward. It is more important for remote and far-off places where there is a shortage of doctors and specialists,” he added.
Mission Director, NHM J&K, Ayushi Sudan, said there is a lot of stigma attached to mental health issues and, with Tele-MANAS, people are coming forward with these issues. “The individual calls reach one or two hours, and it is available 24/7. A lot of mental health issues occur during nighttime. We have been able to cover a lot of people. It is accessible and free. We want to expand it in the future at the district level as well,” she said.
Ayushi Sudan said the NHM J&K is also planning to expand mental health coverage across the districts to cover mental health issues, but the approach may be different from Tele-MANAS. “We will be having district mental health plans. Tele-MANAS is beginning in our initiative. We are also planning to integrate the suicide helpline,” she said.
As an extension to the service delivery framework of the existing Tele-MANAS helpline, they have developed the Tele-MANAS Chatbot, the first of its kind in the entire country. It will enable users to chat directly about their basic mental health problems for a solution, and subsequently, patients can be referred to the Tele-MANAS cell.
Dr. Qazi Haroon, State Program Manager Mental Health J&K, said Tele-MANAS is being linked to the District Mental health program across all the districts of JK UT. A comprehensive communication strategy/IEC formulated has actually helped us to reach so extensively to common people in such a short period.
Pertinently, J&K stands at rank 2 in the whole country as far as daily calls received by Tele-MANAS Cells are concerned.(GNS)
What they and others have discovered is that the country is increasingly open about it. And that the politics are changing around it.
Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) penned a personal essay about Fetterman and how the news of his depression dredged up old feelings about her own fight with the disease in her teens, and again as a young mom. Republican Sen. Katie Britt’s team sent cookies and brownies to Fetterman’s office almost once a week, the senior Fetterman aide told POLITICO. And before President Joe Biden kicked off his budget speech in Philadelphia last month, he spoke directly to the senator: “John, if you can hear this at all, we’re with you, pal. We’re with you,” he said, drawing cheers from the crowd.
“It was like, damn, this is cool. You never know how it’s going to go, you know? There’s no playbook for what John did,” said the Fetterman aide. “But if you can learn anything from John Fetterman, it’s that it’s OK. Things can get better. It is OK to get help. That’s what he wants people to take away from this.”
Fetterman’s return to the Hill on Monday will provide the most visible example of the nation’s capital — a city where public figures often fight to keep personal battles shrouded in secrecy — slowly embracing an issue that affects 1 in 5 Americans in a given year. From Congress to the White House, policymakers have begun leaning into mental health as a key policy priority.
“In the ’50s and ’60s, nobody said the word cancer. We talk about cancer now. We need to get to that point where we talk about depression. We talk about bipolar disorder. We talk about PTSD. We talk about schizophrenia, and acknowledge that these are illnesses for which there is treatment, and people can have satisfying, fulfilling lives,” said Lynn Bufka, associate chief of practice transformation at the American Psychological Association and a licensed psychologist in Maryland.
“So anytime we have more visible figures talking about the reality, it helps people to see ‘Oh, that person is a lot like me.’”
Not only are politicians opening up about their private struggles and decisions to seek treatment but they are doing it while staying in office, said Jason Kander, the former secretary of state of Missouri. Kander, a rising star in the Democratic party, ran for Kansas City mayor in the 2019 election. He dropped out after revealing he had post-traumatic stress disorder and depression after his service in Afghanistan.
“I announced that I was leaving public life for a while to go get help … now I’m a public person again, and I’m trying to be that role model as best I can. But there’s a difference between that next level of what John Fetterman is doing,” Kander said in an interview. “I’m aware of the social media comments that are like, ‘Oh, whatever happened to that guy after he made that announcement?’ And that’s fine, but it’s really great that in the case of John Fetterman, or Ruben Gallego, people see, ‘Oh, they made this announcement, and their pursuit continued.’”
The shift in Washington can be attributed to a number of factors, Bufka said. After decades of advocacy work from the APA and other organizations focused on mental health education, the media now talks about mental health more. The Covid pandemic also greatly exacerbated the crisis, forcing politicians to face the issue head on as one impacting their constituents — and their own lives.
Biden followed a similar path. He had spoken in the past about mental health and worked on the issue as vice president, announcing Obama White House efforts to increase access to mental health services. But during the 2020 campaign, the issue became personalized as he faced questions about his son Hunter’s struggles with mental health and addiction.
“The idea that we treat mental health and physical health as though somehow they’re distinct — it’s health,” Biden said during the interview with CNN. “… I’m confident, confident, he’s going to make it.”
The focus continued into his presidency. During his first State of the Union address, Biden talked about how the pandemic impacted kids, increasing social isolation, anxiety and learning loss. As part of his “unity agenda,” he outlined the White House’s strategy for combating the mental health crisis: creating healthy learning environments, strengthening system capacity and connecting more Americans to care.
The American Rescue Plan included funding to expand Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics, invest in the 988 suicide prevention hotline and launch projects to tackle the impacts of social media and kids. Biden’s latest budget requests $139 million for research and another $16.6 billion to increase mental health care programs in the Veterans Affairs Medical Care program.
“Having the White House be public about this is is meaningful. And I suspect — I would never deign to speak for the president — but I suspect that the contemporary veterans in his family have helped him understand this,” said Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), who has spoken about his PTSD after serving in the military.
There has been no shortage of administration officials talking about the growing crisis, including Domestic Policy Council Adviser Susan Rice, and Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, who has said in interviews that he accepted Biden’s offer to serve a second term because of the dire state of the country’s emotional health.
During White House events, Murthy has talked about about his own struggles with mental health as a young boy and about his uncle, who died by suicide after a silent battle with depression.
Still, the steps forward don’t negate the reality that a stigma still exists, Smith said. She suspected that if one were to do the math, there were likely dozens of members of Congress choosing to not talk about their mental health, fearful of what it could mean for their political careers.
Even as Fetterman’s openness has been met with a positive response, stories like the one of Tom Eagleton, the Democratic running mate for presidential nominee George McGovern who withdrew from the ticket after acknowledging was treated for clinical depression and received electroshock therapy, still haunt politicians.
Then there was former Rep. Patrick Kennedy who left politics to focus on his addiction and bipolar disorder. He entered a rehabilitation center after crashing his car into a barricade on Capitol Hill in 2006. In a 2016 interview, Kennedy noted that there were moments he knew he needed help, well before that breaking point. But back then, politicians didn’t talk about these things.
“It is getting better, but individuals still take risks when they speak out … people are still willing to jump to the conclusion that because you have a mental health issue, that means are you really capable of serving? Can you really do what you need to do?” Smith said.
“But to me, it’s worth it. The positive side of it is the people out there, especially the young people, who see folks like me — who by all appearances have my act together — being open about it. That creates a door for them to walk through.”
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )
Kolkata: A division bench of the Calcutta High Court has upheld the right of a husband to seek divorce from his wife on ground of mental cruelty if the wife constantly abuses the husband by describing him as “coward” and “unemployed” and at the same time force him to get separated from his parents.
Hearing a matter related to a woman challenging a lower court order dissolving her marriage on the ground of mental cruelty against her husband, the division bench of Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Uday Kumar noted that as per Indian culture, the husband stays with his parents and there need to be some justifiable reason for the son to live separately.
In this particular case, a family court in West Midnapore district had dissolved the marriage in July 2001 after accepting the husband’s contention accusing his wife of mental cruelty. The woman had challenged that order at the Calcutta High Court in May 2009.
On the issue of describing the husband as “coward” and “unemployed”, the court noted that it was because of a false complaint by the wife that the husband had lost his government job.
The court also took note of some contents of the diary of the petitioner where she time and again described her husband as “coward” and “unemployed”.
In the diary, she had also made it clear a number of times that she was forced to marry him because of pressure from her parents. As per the court’s observation, the petitioner had also made it clear in the diary that she was more keen to get married elsewhere.
In such cases, the marriage just remains a legal tie and hence tantamount to nothing but fiction, the court noted.
After hearing the arguments, the division bench upheld the verdict of the family court dissolving the marriage in 2001.
Bhubaneswar: The lone accused in the Odisha minister Naba Kishore Das assassination case, dismissed police ASI Gopal Das, had never applied for leave for medical treatment of his psychiatric disorder and also had never submitted any representation for transfer on this ground.
Informing the Assembly about this on Monday, junior home minister TK Behera also said that Das remained absent unauthorisedly from duty for around two months in 2014 and four months next year and on both occasions, he received medical treatment for bipolar disorder.
The accused person’s wife had earlier claimed that her husband was suffering from bipolar disorder that causes extreme mood swings ranging from depressive lows to manic highs.
The police officer who was later dismissed was charged with gunning down the health minister in Jharsuguda district on January 29. The government handed over the probe to the state Crime Branch.
The Crime Branch has been attempting to prove that Das was a mental patient so that he can escape harsh punishment, Congress Legislature Party leader Narasingha Mishra alleged outside the House during the day.
Replying to a written question of Mishra, the minister of state for home said Das remained unauthorisedly absent from duty from February 3, 2014, to April 3, 2014. He submitted his fitness certificate along with medical treatment papers from MKCG Medical College, Berhampur, pertaining to his treatment for a psychiatric disorder (Bipolar Affective Disorder).
Das once again remained absent unauthorisedly between March 1, 2015, and June 27, 2015. This time too he submitted his fitness certificate and other documents relating to the treatment for bipolar disorder and urged his higher authorities to consider his period of absence as earned leave (EL). His request was accepted by the higher-ups, Behera said.
This apart, the minister said that the accused had sought leave on 41 occasions between 2014 and 2022 for various reasons including the treatment of his wife and brother. However, he had never applied for leave citing his medical treatment for bipolar disorder, Behera said.
Das’ performance as a policeman in the last 10 years appeared to be satisfactory, the minister said adding that he had been rewarded on at least 12 occasions between 2013 and 2020.
While the Congress lawmaker wanted to know details regarding the leave applications submitted by Das and the awards given to him during his service period, BJP member Subhas Chandra Panigrahi sought to know about his mental illness from the minister.
Meanwhile, the student’s wing of the Odisha Congress staged demonstrations in front of BJD MLA Sushant Singh’s residence demanding that he be brought into the purview of the investigation into the murder case alleging that the two had differences over some issues.
The activists’ attempt to enter the MLA’s quarters by breaking the security cordon led to a scuffle between them and the police.
The Chhatra Congress supporters also tried to gherao the Odisha Assembly but were stopped by the security personnel.
New Delhi: Former Chairperson of Delhi Commission for Women, Barkha Shukla reacted to Chairperson of Delhi Commission for Women (DCW), Swati Maliwal’s allegations of sexual harassment against her father and said that Maliwal “has lost her mental balance” as she juggles between blaming her husband and father for the assault.
While talking to ANI, Shukla said, “I think Swati Maliwal has lost her mental balance. That’s why she talks like this. First she made many serious allegations about her husband, after which she is now accusing her dead father. She is making allegations in such a manner which does not exist in this world, it is absolutely wrong and extremely shameful.”
Swati Maliwal on Saturday narrated her childhood ordeal and said that she was sexually assaulted by her father when she was a child.
Demanding Swati Maliwal’s resignation, she said, “Swati Maliwal, who calls Arvind Kejriwal a potato, should live with him because potatoes and chips are friends. She levelled many serious allegations against her husband that he used to beat her, and now she is accusing her father in this manner. She has lost her mental balance, and sitting on the post of Chairperson of Delhi
Commission for Women. Talking like this is shameful. This post is a dignified post. It should be respected.”
“If they talk like this, then what message will be sent to the rest of the women of the society?” she added.
Barkha Shukla said, “In the year 2016, Swati Maliwal had said that her father is a soldier and she is proud of him. He can even give his life for the country and the same father, when he is not alive today, Swati Maliwal is talking about him. She is accusing him of physically assaulting her when he is not in this world and is dead. I request the LG sir that she should be immediately dismissed from her post because it will create a lot of trouble in the society. This is a wrong message that will affect the women and daughters of Delhi. This is a wrong notion about the relationship between father and daughter.”
Questioning Maliwal’s position, Barkha said, “In what way will Swati Maliwal emancipate women? She stays abroad half the time. She should be asked what she does abroad. Why does she go abroad? Does she go abroad to collect funds?”
“JB on ATVs” launched a funny sketchin which he doesmockery of the controversial comment of the congressman Jorge Montoya on the alfalfa
Recently, Jorge Montoya he has been heavily criticized for his broadcast comments. A newspaper report revealed that Parliament signed a contract with a company to provide a buffet for congressmen, which costs 80 soles per person. Questions to this addendum provoked a fierce reaction from the legislator. “I ask you, what do you eat? Third-rate food, surely. (…) What one looks for when making a contract is to get the best of the best. They will want us to eat alfalfa,” the Renovación Popular spokesperson told reporters.
For this reason, “JB on ATVs” He made a funny sketch in which he parodies his controversial statements by Montoya Manrique. This generated a reply from the ex-military, who assured that he had not seen the program Jorge Benavides. “I have never watched JB’s show. (…) They have told me that some laughed at what they had done, ”she said. “Due to mental hygiene, I am not used to seeing those things. I say the things I say. When I have to apologize, I will apologize. In this case, I will not do it, because I have not offended anyone, ”she added.
‘Yuca’ parodied María del Carmen Alva on “JB por ATV” due to controversy over the Congressional buffet
Jorge Montoya He was not the only one parodied by the case of the buffet. Maria Del Carmen Alva also had an imitation in “JB on ATVs”. In the funny sketch, “Yuca” plays the former president of Congress. The comedian tastes dishes such as calamari in its ink with rum and chicken in wine. “Now, since it seems that I’m getting dizzy and the buffet is free, I’m going to go around one more time”, said ‘María del Carmen Calva’.
Parliamentarians must pay for their food: Congress announces cancellation of the controversial buffet
what will he say this time Jorge Montoya? This Monday, February 27, the Mayor’s Office of Congress left the buffet out of service for plenary sessions. This, given the numerous criticisms after its implementation. “As of the date, the Human Resources department has been informed that the delivery of the buffet is annulled,” said Pablo Noriega, the general director of Parliament Administration, at a press conference.
