BHUBANESWAR: The state government would like to keep Jaga and Kalia , the conjoined twins who were separated after surgery last year, at AIIMS in New Delhi till the time they recover fully.This was announced by state health minister Pratap Jena, who was in the capital on Friday to assess the situation after meeting doctors attending to the twins. He was accompanied by a five-member medical team from the state.Jena said, "While Jaga has recovered, Kalia still needs medical care and attention. So we have requested the AIIMS authorities to keep them here till Kalia recuperates." He added, "We will take a call on the discharge of the twins after receiving reports from the medical team that came along with me."Three expert doctors from SCB Medical College and Hospital, one from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Postgraduate Institute of Paediatrics, Cuttack and one expert from AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, were part of the five-member team.The craniopagus twins from Milipada village in Kandhamal district were joined in their heads. They had left for Delhi on July 13 last year. The first phase of the surgery was performed on August 28, when the doctors created a venous bypass to separate the veins shared by the twins that carried blood to the heart from the brain. The final separation of the twins needed a 21-hour-long surgery and was carried out by a team of around 30 specialists from the institute's neurosurgery, neuro-anaesthesia and plastic surgery departments on October 25 and 25 last year.Chief minister Naveen Patnaik had visited the children at AIIMS after they were separated. The state government had sanctioned rupees one crore for their treatment.

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