Congress Demands Rs 500 Crore For Osmania Hospital

Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) President & Nalgonda MP N Uttam Kumar Reddy held the negligence of Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao responsible for the deteriorating condition of the Osmania General Hospital (OGH).

Accompanied by senior Congress leaders including Hyderabad City Congress president M Anjan Kumar Yadav, Feroz Khan, Mohd Ghouse, Adam Santosh and others, Reddy visited the OGH and inspected the wards submerged due to rainwater on Wednesday and the stormwater drain from where the rainwater entered the hospital.

He also had detailed interactions with the Incharge Superintendent, the Resident Medical Officer and patients.

Upon the arrival of the Congress leaders, some patients approached them with specific complaints and alleged that they were made to run from one hospital to the other for treatment. Reddy later requested the Incharge Superintendent to attend to those complaints.

Speaking to media persons later, Reddy said that the stormwater entering the wards housing in-patients reflected on the poor functioning of CM KCR and his government, and that the Chief Minister should be ashamed of himself.

He said that the Osmania General Hospital was once the most prestigious and well-known government hospital not just in Telangana but in combined Andhra Pradesh and also in parts of Maharashtra and Karnataka. But under KCR's regime, the hospital had reached a stage where minor rains submerged the functional wards causing huge inconvenience to the patients admitted there.

He said that the submergence of OGH's wards, especially during the time of the coronavirus pandemic, reflected the attitude of the KCR government towards public health.

The TPCC chief also said that the Incharge Superintendent had told the Congress leaders that nearly 150 doctors, including the full-time Superintendent, tested positive for Covid-19.

"This reflects on the quality and the untimely delivery of the PPE kits given to the doctors," he said.

Reddy demanded that the present heritage building of the OGH be protected and strengthened in the way other heritage buildings were protected throughout the world, amd that the state government spend whatever was needed to protect the building.

He added that the estimates and blueprint for the construction of a new building in the same OGH complex at a cost of Rs 500 crore had been waiting for approval since 2017.

While giving financial approval for a new building, he said that the state government needed ensure that the heritage structure of the OGH remained intact, and was strengthened further.

The TPCC chief also demanded upgradation in facilities in terms of oxygen lines, ventilators and other modern equipment.

"OGH gets nearly 2,000 out-patients a day and performs over 60,000 surgeries per year. This is the largest hospital for trauma patients throughout the state. All steps must be taken to upgrade its infrastructure to global standards," he demanded.

If the KCR government could borrow over Rs 3 lakh crore while mortgaging the interests of 4 crore people of Telangana for wasteful expenditure, then why could he not sanction Rs 500 crore for the OGH, Reddy asked.

He demanded that the Chief Minister drop the "nonsense idea" of demolishing the Secretariat and start constructing a new building for the OGH while protecting the heritage structure.