Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) working president and Malkajgiri MP Revanth Reddy started a free meal service at the Gandhi Hospital where 1,000 people would be served free meal daily including doctors, nurses, patients and their dependents.
The Gandhi Hospital, the lifeline of Telangana is now converted into an exclusive COVID-19 hospital by the government and patients from across the State with virus severity are admitted here.
Mr. Reddy said the free meal service was started on a call given by the Congress MP Rahul Gandhi to its cadre to reach out to the people affected with the virus in whatever way they can. Meals would be provided by Mr. Reddy’s pocket and will continue till lockdown is lifted in the State.
The Congress MP said that people coming from all over the State and also neighbouring States did not have access to food as the food joints are closed due to the lockdown. The government has not come to the help of people in distress even during the first phase of lockdown last year and he doesn’t expect it to do so now, he said.
He alleged that the Youth Congress workers reaching out to the needy in these turbulent times were being harassed by the police instead of extending cooperation. The government is worried that its failures are being exposed by the Congress party and that is the reason for the ‘witchhunt’.
The Congress leader also attacked the government charging it with negligence and arrogance in understanding the ground situation. It has no comprehensive policy but is adopting a piecemeal method to deflect the growing criticism of its failures.
The constitution of the Telangana Task Force Committee on Covid was done recently but it consists of all the yes-men of the government rather than experts from medical-, research-, technology- and management fields who can draw a good strategy on supply of vaccines and medicines, and suggest methods for implementation of their ideas for faster relief on shortage of oxygen and beds, he claimed.
The Congress MP also alleged that Remedesivir injections were available in the black market and some TRS leaders are being accused of hoarding them and supplying to their near and dear ones.
Mr. Reddy also said the government had failed to curb the corporate hospitals billing the patients to the tune of lakhs for Covid treatment. It is blind and deaf to the appeals of patients on this issue and it owes an answer to the people. He said the Chattisgarh government was providing ₹5,000 per month to children who have lost their parents due to COVID-19 and Telangana government should adopt the same scheme immediately.
