Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka said on Thursday that ‘failure’ to take timely decisions and ‘overall negligence’ by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and Health Minister Eatala Rajender led to the rapid spread of COVID-19 in the State.
“Hospitals are under-staffed and poorly-equipped, and the staff do not have PPE kits or gloves. The State was pushed to ₹3 lakh crore debt, but not even ₹10, 000 crore was spent on public health infrastructure and not a single hospital was built,” he said.
Continuing his tour of government hospitals in the State to inspect COVID treatment, Mr. Vikramarka along with other CLP leaders was in Jangaon on Thursday.
He said treatment to coronavirus patients was inadequate, with lack of RT-PCR tests, among others. Like other districts, Jangaon also suffers from medical staff shortage, with 32 posts waiting to be filled out of the total 104 posts, he said.
The senior Congress leader later visited Bhongir and interacted with COVID-19 patients. “Even here, equipment related to general medicine are in bad condition. Frontline warriors are not provided PPE kits and gloves,” he said. In the last leg of his tour in Medchal, Mr. Vikramarka launched a scathing attack against the CM and said that he was ‘culpable’ for ‘inaction and untimely decisions’.
“Government’s home quarantine prescription was a reason that coronavirus spread to 40% of villages. A health emergency should be declared and the maximum funds diverted for public health and to provide free treatment to all,” he said. He alleged that the State government led by Mr. KCR continued to ignore their plight despite doctors and other medical staff risking their lives. He demanded the government to immediately roll out ex gratia and insurance cover for medical staff.