Healthcare sector gets 5,536 crore as KCR showcases novel schemes

Hyderabad: The TRS government has proposed Rs 5,536 crore budget for the Health sector for 2019-20. Making this announcement during the budget speech in Assembly on Friday, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao made mention of Centre’s statement declaring Telangana as one of the three States in the country providing quality healthcare.The various initiatives and novel schemes undertaken by his government in the last five years yielded good results, he felt. 

The allocation for buying medicines and equipment in government hospitals was only Rs 146 crore in the combined State. However, the Telangana government tripled the allocation to Rs 440 crore,” Rao said. The opening of Dialysis centres in government hospitals and availability of diagnostic tests like MRI, CT Scan, Digital Radiology, 2D Echo etc. helped patients visiting government hospitals immensely, he added.

Also, the government is providing “Paramapada” vehicles to transport bodies of dead persons from hospitals to their residences free of cost. No other state in the country provides such facility, he said. One of its kind initiatives- KCR Kits and Kanti Velugu benefitted people in all districts and soon ENT-Dental care camps to detect ailments relating to eye, nose, throat and teeth would be taken up, KCR said.

Meanwhile, Telangana Junior Doctors Association (T JUDA) stated that budget allocation for health this year was less compared to last year. As against Rs 5,976 crore allocated in 2018-19, this year only Rs 5,536 crores was proposed, it said. T JUDA chairman Dr P S Vijayender Goud said that the population in Telangana was increasing by 5 lakh annually which means health and educational needs and demand of the state increase yearly.  However, there is a decreased budget allocation for Health and even Education departments, he stressed.