NALGONDA : Hundreds of patients faced difficulties after the owner locked the ESI dispensary in Sitarampuram in Miryalaguda town on Friday due to non-payment of rent for the last 26 months. However, he relented and opened the lock in the afternoon after the in-charge doctor assured the owner that the rent would be paid soon.
In 2017, the government entered into a rent agreement with the owner of the building to set up the ESI dispensary. As many as 21,000 workers employed in over 150 rice mills, Yadadri Power Plant, cement factories, and shopping malls in and around Miryalaguda are ESI card holders. Everyday day, 100–120 workers visit the dispensary for treatment. Medicines are also given free to the patients. It has one MBBS doctor and two specialist doctors. Several patients who came to the dispensary at 9.30 am were shocked to see the building locked. While some went to private hospitals, others returned home.
P Narsimharaju, who works in a rice mill, said that when he came to the ESI dispensary for treatment after sunstroke, the building was locked and the staff was waiting outside. He went to a private hospital as he had high fever, he said.
Karnati Krishna, the owner of the building, told TNIE that he had not received the rent for 26 months. Whenever he demanded rent, the authorities assured him that a proposal was sent to the government and his dues would be cleared in three days, Krishna said, adding that he would open the lock if the ESI director gave him a written assurance that the government would pay his rent. Krishna said that he forewarned the ESI officials about his plan to lock the dispensary.
ESI dispensary in-charge Dr Arunachalam told TNIE that the total rent amount due was Rs 9 lakh. According to him, the government used to pay the rent every quarterly. Though they sent proposals, they were not cleared at the sub-treasury office for some reasons, he explained.
Patients expressed apprehension that the owner might come back and lock the building if the rent was not paid within 10 days. They urged the government to clear the rent dues as early as possible.