Former Telangana BJP president K. Laxman urged Union Health Minister Harshvardhan to hold a virtual meeting with State Health Minister Eatala Rajender, Health officials and heads of hospitals treating COVID patients to assess the ‘grave situation’ here.
In a communication to the Minister, a copy of which was released to the media on Sunday, he requested for a delegation from the Centre, vested with power to take instantaneous decisions, to save the people of Telangana and save Hyderabad, showing signs of rampant community spread. “The TS government has been utterly negligent in following the Centre’s advisory and is allowing COVID-19 to spread,” he said.
“For inexplicable reasons, the government has been callous in improving the public health infrastructure and insensitive to the fears and anxieties of people. It is neither testing people on a large scale nor allowing individuals to approach labs and hospitals for tests when they have an element of doubt,” he charged.
Mr. Laxman also said that Gandhi Hospital was declared a COVID facility but there was no hygiene there with stinking wards. “There is not enough sanitation staff at the hospital and as a result, conditions are very bad,” he alleged and pointed out that the 1,500 bed hospital at Gachibowli remained unused with no recruitment of extra doctors or para-medical staff.
“TS has registered 3,000 cases during the last two weeks and 180 deaths with over 75% of cases being identified from the city,” he said. The High Court had several times pulled up the government for ‘negligence’ in conducting tests and extending treatment. However, that did not have an impact on the government as it continues its lackadaisical attitude, claimed the senior party leader.
“Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao is inaccessible and no one knows how much freedom the Health Minister is vested with for decision making. So is the case with the Chief Secretary,” he maintained.