TPCC chief Uttam condemns KCR's policy on Covid-19 testing

Jagtial: Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president and Nalgonda MP Capt N Uttam Kumar Reddy strongly condemned Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao's policy on conducting less number of tests for coronavirus.

Speaking at a press conference at Jagtial on Thursday, Uttam Kumar Reddy said that while the World Health Organisation (WHO) has been asking the affected countries to adopt a three-pronged strategy of 'Trace, Test and Treat' the Covid-19 patients, KCR has adopted a strange policy of not conducting tests even for the strong suspects and secondary contacts and at present, Telangana has the lowest testing in the country. He said both the Central and State governments have failed to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the country, especially Telangana. He said while nearly 1,600 per 10 lakh people were being tested for coronavirus across the country, the average is just 650 per 10 lakh people in Telangana. He said this low rate of testing could prove to be highly dangerous for the entire society.

The TPCC chief said more than 22,000 people only were tested in Telangana while neighbouring States like Karnataka, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh have tested about 2.5 lakh to 4 lakh people. He said despite Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) approval, the State government did not allow nine private laboratories and hospitals in the State to conduct Covid-19 tests.

Uttam Kumar Reddy said testing was stopped in Suryapet, which had emerged as a hotspot for coronavirus after Hyderabad. He said presently an average of 250 tests were being conducted across the State.

The TPCC Chief criticised that the government has failed to help migrant workers in the State and Congress leaders have helped them in every possible way. He demanded the State government to disclose the figures of donations collected from NGOs, institutions and individuals for coronavirus relief to Chief Minister's Relief Fund.

Uttam Kumar rejected the proposed comprehensive Agriculture Policy of the TRS government, describing it a move to harass the already distressed farmers. He alleged that Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao was trying to deprive the farmers from Rythu Bandhu assistance by forcing them to grow crop of government's choice. Stating that the State government is advising the farmers to grow cotton on nearly 70 lakh acres, he said cotton farmers could not find buyers for over 50 years. Can the government give guarantee that it will purchase the entire cotton crop? He questioned.

TPCC Working President Ponnam Prabhakar, MLC Jeevan Reddy, MLA D Sridhar Babu and other leaders were present at the press meet. They also participated in various programmes held on the death anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.