HYDERABAD: The Congress government set new a record in disbursement of funds from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund (CMRF).
In the last one year, the government disbursed cheques worth Rs 830 crore, benefiting 1.66 lakh poor and middle class families, under the CMRF. Of these, Rs 590 crore was disbursed to patients after treatment was completed and Rs 280 crore to hospitals in the form of Letter of Credit (LoC) for those who are undergoing treatment.
During the BRS regime, a total of Rs 2,400 crore funds (Rs 480 crore per year) were released between 2018 to 2023, officials claimed and added that the present government is granting LoCs expeditiously.
“The government has made arrangements to give LoCs within 24 hours of receiving the applications. Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has instructed us to clear LoCs even on Sundays. Significant number of LoCs are granted for the treatment of children,” they added.
In order to curb the scourge of middlemen and prevent leakages, CMRF applications are being accepted online. The government is now printing the names and bank account numbers of beneficiaries on the cheques to prevent any irregularities, they said.
Meanwhile, the government is focusing on providing treatment to children born with speech and hearing impairment.
“Since the cost of these operations is in lakhs, children from poor families are unable to undergo treatment. The Health department brought this to the attention of the chief minister in the initial review meetings itself. The chief minister decided that there should be no deaf and dumb children in future in Telangana, and that the government should provide treatment to such children at any cost,” the officials added.
So far this year, about 87 LoCs have been given for treating children with such problems.