HYDERABAD: The Telangana government will constitute a task force to rein in private hospitals, which are bleeding COVID-19 patients white, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao said in the Assembly during a short debate on COVID-19 on Wednesday.
The committee's reports will be sent to the leaders of Opposition on a weekly basis. IAS officers Rahul Bojja, Sarfaraz Ahmad and D Divya will be the members of the committee.
According to the GO issued by Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar, the Terms of Reference (ToR) of the task force are to verify that: the maximum rates stipulated by the government are being adhered to by private hospitals and COVID-19 treatment and safety protocols are being followed.
Rao said that the task force shall submit their report to the Chief Secretary regularly, and this would be provided to the leaders of Opposition on a weekly basis. The government will also convene a high-level meeting shortly to discuss the possibility of including COVID-19 in Aarogyasri.
The Chief Minister said the Telangana government will not object to clubbing Ayushman Bharat funds with that of the Aarogyasri scheme, if the Centre permits it. "Aarogyasri is better than Ayushman Bharat. Recently, Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan told me that Tamil Nadu, too, is implementing Ayushman Bharat. I told her that if the Centre allows us to club both the Central and State health schemes, we are ready for it," he said.
Rao said the State government has ramped up COVID-19 testing and crossed the national average. "If necessary, we will conduct more tests. All facilities are available to treat COVID-19 patients. The State’s revenues have also improved after the unlock and there is no dearth of funds," he said.
Attacking Congress' Mallu Bhatti Vikramkara, Rao said that all Ministers and MLAs had extensively toured the State and monitored the COVID-19 situation. Some of TRS' public representatives, too, had contracted the disease. “We left no stone unturned. The situation is not bad in the State,” he said.
When AIMIM floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi asked if the State received any financial assistance from the Centre for COVID-19 management, Rao said except for Rs 256 crore under the National Health Mission and another Rs 90 crore of other funds, the Centre has not given TS anything else. "We have asked it to restructure our loan. But, they did not do it. Though, the Centre enhanced the FRBM limit, there are riders for the same," the Chief Minister said.
The government administered 24,048 injections of Remdesivir and 2,06,949 tablets of Favipiravir to COVID-19 patients in the State, it informed the Council in reply to a question on procurement, usage and effect of the two drugs by the government.
The government also procured 32,800 injections of Remdesivir and 2,52,348 tablets of Favipiravir, it said. "As these are new drugs, their exact results cannot be assessed at this stage," it said.
The utilisation of 24,048 injections by the government would mean that anywhere between 3,400 and 4,000 patients were administered Remdesivir. While there is no official data on the effectiveness of Remdesivir, some government doctors say it is proving to be effective
BC Welfare Minister Gangula Kamalakar said that the State government has been handing over cheques to the beneficiaries of Kalyana Lakshmi and Shaadi Mubarak on the day of their daughters’ wedding. He was replying to MLAs Hari Priya Banoth and Padma Devender Reddy during the Question Hour.
The Minister said cheques worth Rs 1,100 crore were handed over to beneficiaries during the lockdown. He said 7,14,575 families belonging to BCs, EBCs, SCs, STs and minorities have benefited from the schemes