Puttaparthi (Andhra Pradesh), April 3 (IANS) Spiritual leader Sathya Sai Baba's condition is stable, doctors at the Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences said Sunday. However, the 85-year-old guru to millions continued to be on respiratory support due to a breathing problem.
In a medical bulletin issued Sunday morning, the director of the super speciality hospital A.N. Safaya said all vital systems of Sai Baba were functioning normally.
Even though he was on respiratory support, he was showing signs of improvement and hence there was no cause for anxiety, Safaya added.
Andhra Pradesh Minister for Major Industries J. Geeta Reddy visited the hospital to enquire about the godman's condition.
After a meeting with officials of Sathya Sai Central Trust, police officers and doctors, Geeta Reddy said Sai Baba's condition was stable.
The minister, herself a devotee of Baba, has been deputed by the state government after the some reports of his deteriorated condition worried his devotees in India and abroad.
The trust officials and doctors have not allowed the minister or any other state government official into Sai Baba's room in the intensive care unit.
Meanwhile, the state government has also sent a team of doctors from Hyderabad to monitor his condition.
A large number of policemen have been deployed at the hospital as devotees continued to pour in to know about Sai Baba's health. A section of devotees had Saturday tried to barge into the hospital.
The godman was admitted to the hospital March 28 in the pilgrim town of Puttaparthi in Anantapur district due to pneumonia and breathing problem.
Doctors have implanted a permanent pacemaker to regulate his heartbeat.
Sai Baba, whose real name is Sathyanarayana Raju, had claimed in 1940 that he was an 'avatar' of god.
He became famous with his miracles but for last two decades he had been focusing on social and charitable work.