Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president and Nalgonda MP N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Monday strongly demanded the government to provide free treatment to poor and middle-class people for Covid and Black Fungus diseases.
He was addressing the Satyagraha Deeksha of the PCC at Gandhi Bhavan demanding free treatment to all BPL families for Covid and Black Fungus diseases. Along with Uttam Kumar Reddy CLP leader in Assembly Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, MLC T Jeevan Reddy, former PCC president Ponnala Laxmaiah, MP Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, MLA T Jagga Reddy, AICC secretary Madhu Yaski and several senior leaders participated in the Deeksha.
Speaking on the occasion Uttam Kumar Reddy announced that Satyagraha Deeksha would be taken p at the Assembly constituency headquarters on June 14 with similar demands.
He demanded the government to implement a High Court order which said that the excess charges being collected from the people by the private hospitals should be recovered and given back to the patients.
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“We have expected that government would voluntarily come forward to implement the orders of the High Court. But sadly the government did not respond so far. Hence we strongly demand that the government should implement the High Court order to recover the amount and give it back to families of the patients or the government should reimburse the excess amounts being collected by the private hospitals,” he demanded.
He said that the government is pretending like taking some action on the private hospitals after Congress has brought pressure on the government on the loot of the private hospitals.
The TPCC chief alleged that the Chief Minister did not respond even though private hospitals have been looting the people in the name of treatment to Covid. He said that while Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu governments have been providing free treatment to Covid patients, the Telangana government failed to take action in that direction. He said that the Kerala government has been ensuring treatment to Covid in private hospitals at moderate and regulated charges.
He severely criticized the government for failing to control the Covid pandemic in the country. “The BJP government at the Centre and TRS government at the state level have miserably failed in controlling the spread of Covid. Due to lack of foresight and planning the second wave has spread like wildfire in the country,” Reddy said.
He said that both Modi and KCR government grossly neglected public health and have shown no commitment towards safeguarding the health of the people. It is a shame on Modi and KCR that India has registered the most number of Covid cases and deaths in the world.
He said it was shameful that though 15 months have gone by after the onset of the Covid pandemic in the country, the state government failed to improve the medical infrastructure in the state. He said that there was a shortage of beds, oxygen, ventilators, and medicines.
He said that several patients have died in King Koti Hospital due to the shortage of oxygen. He said that till now there was no drinking water supply to TIMS hospital where about 1500 patients are treated. He said that till today water is supplied through the tankers to the hospital.
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Uttam said that though Bharat Biotech and Reddy Labs which are located in Hyderabad are producing the vaccines for the Covid, the state government failed to procure sufficient doses of vaccines for the state.
He said that Congress has to take up Satyagraha Deeksha in the Gandhian way as the government failed to address the shortage of shortage for beds, oxygen, ventilators, and medicines.
He said that when he has visited Huzurnagar Government Hospital he found that only seven doctors have been working whereas the sanctioned strength of doctors was 49.
He alleged that the ruling party leaders have been receiving an 8 percent commission for the irrigation works in the state. He said that in the past year about Rs 40,000 crores have been spent on irrigation projects by the government. “Can not the government spend few hundreds of crores to provide free treatment to Covid patients by adding it to Arogyasri Scheme,” he questioned.
He said that if the Covid treatment is added to Arogyasri it would benefit 85 per cent of the population of the state.
SOURCE-NSS
