The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) will be soon making ready shelters for attendants of patients at seven main hospitals in the capital for which 80% per cent of the project cost or ₹9.71 crore has been released by the Telangana Mission for Elimination of Poverty in Municipal Areas (TMEPMA).
Two shelters, one at Government Maternity Hospital at Koti built at a cost of ₹1.95 crore and another at Mahavir Hospital at Masab Tank built at a cost of ₹1.34 crore have been completed while others are under various phases of construction.
Major project
The one at Osmania General Hospital is being taken up at a cost of ₹2.6 crore; at Niloufer Hospital at a cost of ₹1.70 crore; at Government ENT Hospital (Koti) at a cost of ₹1.80 crore and at NIMS at a cost of ₹1.80 crore. Construction for the one planned at Fever Hospital (Nallakunta) at a cost of ₹1.5 crore is, however, yet to begin, according to officials of the municipal corporation.
Total cost for these shelters is about ₹12.14 crore of which ₹3.80 crore has been spent so far. Earlier, the civic body had conducted a study at the major hospitals and had identified 605 such patients waiting at the hospitals when it was decided to construct shelter homes for them in the open spaces available at the hospitals.
Deputy Commissioners of the municipal circles concerned have taken over the completed structures and are in the process of providing the basic amenities inside before they are handed over to select non-governmental bodies for upkeep and maintenance.
1474 shelterless
GHMC had also undertaken a survey on shelterless persons near bus shelters, major junctions and other places last week as per the instructions of the Supreme Court and had identified 1474 persons (Male –1033/Female – 437, PWDs – four) shelterless in the 30 circles.
There are 12 shelter homes running from community halls, eight for men and four for women with amenities like drinking water, toilets, power facility, cots, sheets, pillows, kitchen utensils, gas stove, lockers, tables and chairs, among others, at each of these places spending ₹3.16 lakh.
Coordination
TMEPMA had also released ₹72 lakh towards operations of these shelter homes at ₹6 lakh an year a couple of years ago following which the GHMC had handed over them to NGOs providing ₹17,500 a month for maintenance and facilitating procurement of identity cards like Aadhar, EPIC, opening of saving bank accounts, medical facilities to inmates in coordination with other departments.
More than 5,200 people have also been counselled to check about their families and were assisted return to the mainstream.
