Telangana Ministers Visit Hospitalized Tribal Students

Environment and Forest Minister Konda Surekha and Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar today visited the three tribal students from the Vankidi Tribal Girls' Residential School who have been hospitalized due to food poisoning at NIMS.

The ministers met the students' families, and reassured the family members that the government was closely monitoring the students' health and providing emotional support.

NIMS Director Dr Beerappa and Head of the Department of Nephrology Dr Gangadhar provided the ministers with detailed updates on the students' health status.

Surekha urged the NIMS Director to arrange special lodging and dining facilities for the patients' families.

She was told that two of the students were showing signs of improvement, while the third remained in intensive care.

Surekha was clarified to by the hospital staff that the students did not fall ill due to hostel food; rather, they reportedly became unwell after consuming snacks brought from home. None of the hostel staff who consumed the same food showed any symptoms, reinforcing this account, they said.

Surekha however said that disciplinary action would be taken against any officials found responsible once the laboratory reports on the food samples were received.

She also criticized former minister Harish Rao's remarks, saying that he was irresponsibly using this incident to tarnish the government's image. She said that it was important to understand the facts before making statements, and that the Congress government had upheld high standards in hostel management since taking office.