Errabelli Dayakar Rao says – No. 1 in healthcare

Warangal: BRS government has revolutionised the public healthcare system, Minister for Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Errabelli Dayakar Rao said. Speaking at the Health Day programme organised as part of decennial Telangana Formation Day at Palakurthi in Jangaon district on Wednesday, the minister said that the Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has ensured that the government health sector is properly funded.

Telangana stood in the third place in the country in the overall rankings as per the health index-2021 of the Niti Aayog, Errabelli said. Even though the Centre didn’t allocate a single medical college for Telangana, the State government has come forward to sanction a medical college each for all the districts, the minister said.

The number of beds in the NIMS Hospital has been increased by another 2,000. These apart, the government also took up the construction of four multi super-speciality hospitals around Hyderabad city, he said. In addition to these, a multi super-speciality hospital with 24 levels is being constructed in Warangal with an estimated cost of Rs 1,100 crore, Errabelli said. The work on the construction of a medical college with an outlay of Rs 18 crore is in progress in Jangaon, he added.

Plans are also afoot to upgrade the hospitals in Palakurthi and Thorrur with 50 and 100 beds respectively, he said. Incidentally, the minister inaugurated two mortuaries – one each at Thorrur and Palakurthi. The minister also reeled out the State government’s healthcare initiatives – KCR Kits, KCR Nutrition Kits, Kanti Velugu, Telangana Diagnostic Centres, Arogya Mahila, Basti Dawakhana, Palle Dawakhana etc.

Errabelli said that Telangana is the only State which was paying highest salaries to ASHA workers. At present, ASHA workers receive a monthly salary of Rs 9,750, while their counterparts in States governed by BJP and Congress receive anywhere between Rs 4,000 and 5,000, he said. Additional collector Praful Desai, DRDO Project Director Ram Reddy and DM&HO Dr Prashanth were among others present.

Minister for Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Errabelli Dayakar Rao giving away a KCR Kit to a woman at Palakurthi in Jangaon district on Wednesday