Indian PM has breakfast with wife, daughters

New Delhi, Jan 27 (PTI) Indian Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh, who is making "excellent progress" following a
successful coronary by-pass surgery, Tuesday had breakfast
with his wife and daughters at the AIIMS here.

The 76-year-old Prime Minister "continues to maintain
excellent progress. Tuesday morning he had breakfast with his
wife and daughters," PM's Media Adviser Deepak Sandhu said.

"Seeing the Prime Minister's recovery, we have decided
to withdraw the ICU status of his room by late this
afternoon," Dr K S Reddy, the Prime Minister's personal
physician, told PTI.

The room in which Singh is recuperating had been
upgraded to an intensive care unit with installation of
sophisticated monitoring equipment.

Reddy said Singh has been given solid food and only
family members are being allowed to meet him.

Dr Ramakant Panda, a specialist cardiac surgeon from
Mumbai's Asian Heart Institute, who had led the team of
doctors during the over 11-hour-long operation, had Monday
indicated that Singh may not require intensive care beyond
Wednesday given his quick progress.

However, the doctors are yet to decide on the date of
the PM's discharge from the hospital.

After his surgery on Saturday, the Prime Minister was
initially given a liquid diet, then semi-solid and finally
solid food, according to the doctors attending on him.

Singh is now able to sit in his bed and has been talking
to his family members who are the only people being allowed to
meet him, they said.

"We are not allowing any visitor," Reddy said, adding a
decision on whether the Prime Minister would continue to stay
in the same room or move to another has not been taken yet.

Reddy said the doctors would have to also decide as to
when Singh could be made to walk within his room. PTI