Arun Jaitley says he is being treated for kidney related problems.
Highlights
- Arun Jaitley has not been attending office since Monday
- He is being treated for kidney-related problems and some infections
- He said on Twitter he was working from "controlled environment at home"
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is being treated for kidney-related problems and certain infections that he had recently contracted. The senior BJP leader, who had skipped taking oath after being re-elected as Rajya Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh, has not been attending office since Monday.
In a
brief statement put out on Twitter, Mr Jaitley, 65, confirmed that he was working from "controlled environment at home" due to these medical reasons.
Mr Jaitley said "the future course of my treatment would be determined by the doctors treating me".
Mr Jaitley had gone to Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences or AIIMS for tests related to a kidney ailment, officials at the Finance Ministry and at the medical facility told news agency Reuters. A medical report is due on Friday, one of the Finance Ministry officials said.
Sources said doctors from AIIMS are attending to the Finance Minister at his residence.
The finance minister, due to ill-health, had skipped taking oath after being re-elected as Rajya Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh. As many as 55 out of the 58 newly-elected or re-elected lawmakers took oath of office since April 3. Mr Jaitley was one of the three members who haven't taken oath.
His health has led to cancellation of domestic public appearances as well as foreign visits. While he did not appear during at least two public events in the last one week where he was listed as a speaker, Mr Jaitley's visit to London next week has been cancelled.
The minister, who last month skipped a meeting of finance ministers from the group of 20 countries in Argentina, was to attend the 10th UK-India Economic And Financial Dialogue in London next week. He was scheduled to deliver a talk on 'Looking Ahead to 2022: India's Global Vision' at Chatham House, a policy think tank, on April 12. The talk has been cancelled.
The minister, who suffers from chronic diabetes, had heart surgery several years ago. He is a key member of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet and presented his fifth and the present NDA government's final full budget on February 1.
The Budget was last month approved by the Lok Sabha without a discussion and it is not listed to be taken up in Rajya Sabha before the current session of Parliament ends tomorrow, thereby not requiring his presence for a reply.
In 2014 he had a gastric bypass operation to keep his diabetes in check.
With inputs from PTI and Reuters