Basti Dawakhanas to come up all over Telangana

​Hyderabad: Basti Dawakhanas, which were launched in twin-cities to offer healthcare to urban poor and financially weak, to be extended to the entire State. Works are on to start 22 new Basti Dawakhanas, including 12 in Warangal, five each in Karimnagar and Nizamabad in the coming up months. Also, authorities are targetting to establish 500 Basti Dawakhanas in the State capital alone by next summer.

Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister KT Rama Rao and Health Minister C Laxma Reddy held a review meeting with senior officials on health care and health infrastructure in urban areas.

In view of positive response to 17 Basti Dawakhanas that were started on pilot basis in GHMC limits, it was decided to increase the number in coming months.

The officials were told to make plans to increase Dawakhanas in Hyderabad to 500 by next summer, with 175 out of them to be in operation mode by end of this year.

Authorities said that they were on the job to start 28 new Dawakhanas in next month. The Minister wanted them to ensure all 28 clinics were thrown open to public the same day, most likely in first week of September.

The Minister shared the feedback he got from general public when he visited Basti Dawakhana in Begumpet a few days ago. People stated that they were saved from spending money in private clinics for common illnesses like fever after the launch of these Dawakhanas, he said. Rao told authorities to scout for buildings to establish Basti Dawakhanas and go for new constructions wherever they could not locate a convenient place.

The Minister further advised the authorities to take the help of IT department in online mapping of all these clinics. He also wanted extension of Telangana Diagnostics, under which more than 50 tests are being done for free, to city population and to all district headquarters in coming months.