Two trauma care centres sanctioned for Anantapur district way back in 2007, for which funds were also released from the Central Government, have not been established so far, District Road Safety Committee meeting revealed on Monday.
For 13 years, the establishment of the trauma care centre has been neglected though ₹80 lakh was released for civil works, ₹5 crore for equipment, ₹3.5 crore for maintenance.
The Union Government had sanctioned ₹9.65 crore in the 2008-09 financial year for the two centres at Government General Hospital in Anantapur and Penukonda Government Hospital to help victims of accidents on National Highways reach within the golden rule. The two centres were set up keeping in mind the distance from the highways. The Karnataka Bagepalli Border was 40 km from Penukonda, Amarapuram, and Madakasira too was just 45 to 50 km from Penukonda so that in the event of an accident, the ambulance could reach the trauma care centre within 30 minutes.
The centre is currently managed by M. Atmaram and orthopaedic surgeon. The Puttaparthi Sathya Sai Super Speciality Hospital is set up for the eastern region and a third trauma care centre was proposed at Molakalacheruvu PHC so that those in the Kadiri region could reach this 24X7 hospital.