Hyderabad, June 30 (Hydnow): Stating that the Coronavirus cases are increasing across Telangana in an alarming proportion, Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) President & Nalgonda MP . N. Uttam Kumar Reddy demanded that the State Government adopt a scientific and rational approach to control the pandemic to save people’s lives.
Addressing a press conference at Nalgonda on Tuesday, Uttam Kumar Reddy blamed the negligent attitude and unscientific, irrational and illogical approach of Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao for the rise in Covid-19 cases in Telangana. He alleged that KCR considers himself to be an authority on all subjects like irrigation, agriculture and now Coronavirus. He said KCR’s ‘I know everything’ attitude has pushed Telangana closest to the crater of Covid-19 volcano with thousands of people getting infected with the deadly virus. He reminded that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has warned about the dangers of Covid-19 on February 12 itself. However, neither the Central nor State Government responded positively. He said KCR had even ridiculed the Congress leaders when they spoke about the importance of wearing face masks. KCR even claimed that Coronavirus could be treated with a paracetamol and the virus will die in a temperature of 22 Degree Celsius. He also assured to spend Rs. 1,000 crore, if required, to deal with the situation.
Uttam Kumar Reddy alleged that the TRS Government has cheated the people by under-testing and under-reporting cases of Coronavirus only to create a false impression that it has controlled the spread of virus. He said in violation of established norms, the post-mortem was not conducted on the bodies of Covid-19 suspects to ascertain the cause. Information was suppressed and statistics were manipulated to make false claims of less number of Covid-19 deaths and cases in Telangana. He said the government labs were not fully utilised and despite approval by the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) and directions by the High Court, private labs were not permitted to conduct Covid-19 tests. He said that the Congress party even approached the Governor seeking her intervention to increase Covid-19 tests in the State.
Advertisements
Uttam said that the testing rate in Telangana was highly low compared to other States in the country. He said neighbouring Andhra Pradesh conducted over 9 lakh tests while Telangana did not test even 90,000 people. For a population of every 10 lakh, Maharashtra has tested 5,000 people, Karnataka 6,000 and Chhattisgarh 4,000. While the national average is also nearly 4,000 tests per 10 lakh population, it is less than 1,000 tests in Telangana.
He also sought to know the status of the announcement made by CM KCR of conducting 50,000 tests in 30 Assembly segments in and around Hyderabad. He said that the State Government was now blaming the private labs for the rise in the number of cases since the last one week. He said that the mishandling of lockdown by KCR Govt was responsible for the spread of Coronavirus. He said that the State Government did not upgrade the medical facilities during the lockdown period and permitted liquor shops in red zones. He said it was strange that only 10 people were allowed for a funeral and 20 for marriages. But over 500 people were allowed to gather at liquor shops. He said the opening of wine shops in Red Zones was primarily responsible for the spread of the disease.
Uttam Kumar Reddy said there was only one Covid-19 hospital (Gandhi Hospital) for a population of nearly 4 crore. He said CM KCR permitted treatment at private hospitals only after TRS MLAs were tested Covid-19 positive. He said if the ruling party was so confident of better facilities at Gandhi Hospital, then it should’ve asked its MLAs to get the treatment at Gandhi Hospital. He demanded that many hospitals in Hyderabad and other districts should be upgraded immediately to deal with the Covid-19 situation in view of the rising number of cases.
Advertisements
The TPCC Chief strongly condemned the statement of Health Minister Etala Rajender wherein he found fault with the patients who complained of lack of oxygen facility at Chest Hospital and died later. He said KCR and Etala Rajender should’ve hanged their faces in shame after watching the selfie video of Ravi Kumar from Chest Hospital. Instead of being apologetic, Minister Rajender is blaming the patients and the media for reporting those incidents.
“Wake up KCR, wake up TRS Govt,” he said and demanded that the State Government adopt a scientific and rational policy to deal with the Covid-19 situation. He reiterated the demand that mineral funds for this year should be utilised to upgrade medical infrastructure in the districts. Further, he said that the Central Government has announced Rs. 50 lakh ex-gratia for the medical professional and sanitation staff if they die of Covid-19. He said this should be implemented in Telangana. He also demanded that police personnel and journalists should also be treated as frontline warriors against Coronavirus and Rs. 50 lakh ex-gratia should be given if they die due to Coronavirus.
Later, Uttam Kumar Reddy also met Suryapet Superintendent of Police to lodge a complaint on harassment of Congress workers by a few police officials. He also had a meeting with the Suryapet District Collector. (Hydnow)
Advertisements