Health of students is priority for Telangana govenment: Ronald Rose

HYDERABAD: Acknowledging a sharp spike in seasonal and viral fevers, Telangana State Tribal Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society (TSTWREIS) and Telangana State Schedule Castes Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society (Gurukulam) Secretary D Ronald Rose, in conversation with TNIE, said that the authorities are taking utmost care to ensure the well being of the students.

“We have set up a Command and Control Centre at our head office to continuously guide and monitor the health issues of the students,” the IAS officer said, adding that everyone was free to visit it and clear their apprehensions on the care being taken to ensure the health of students.

“We have a system in place to check all parameters such as education, health, food quality, and sanitation. We are effectively utilising technology and mobile apps to monitor the situation. We are monitoring the quality of food, and sanitation on a day-to-day basis. We do get negative feedback about shortage of eggs and quality of dal and other dishes and we rectify the issues on priority,” Rose said.  

Speaking about the welfare hostels that are under his supervision, the IAS officer said: “We have staff nurses in all the institutions, without exception. The district Collectors are ensuring that there is no vacancy of staff nurses in the hostels. As and when students fall sick, we immediately arrange a doctor visit and the best possible treatment.”

Asked about the deaths reported in welfare hostels, Rose said, “Unfortunately, two students died in our institutions. We have provided the best possible treatment to Sangeetha, a degree student from the erstwhile Adilabad district. We even tried to shift her to NIMS. In the case of a Class V student, she joined recently and when she fell ill, her parents took her away, saying that they would consult a private doctor.”

When asked about reports of a fund crunch, Rose, who is also State Finance Secretary, said that there was no such problem. “The State government has marked Rs 1,200 crore for social welfare and Rs 450 crore for tribal welfare hostels and there is no delay in the disbursement of funds. In the case of KGBVs, we haven’t received the Centre’s share of 60 per cent funds for a few months now. The State government has given some advances to run the hostels,” he stated.

Answering a question on sanitation, Rose said: “We are dedicating one day a week for implementing ‘Swachh Gurukulam’ to remove litter, scrap. It includes cleaning and plantation drives.” He acknowledged that the department faces some issues as the hostels are run in private buildings.