HYDERABAD: Chief Minister Revanth Reddy said education and healthcare remain top priorities for the Telangana government and assured that there will be no reduction in funding.
He said the government is ready to allocate more funds if required. "We will not cut even a rupee for education and healthcare," he said during a discussion on the health department in the Assembly on Thursday.
₹4,500 crore spent on healthcare
The chief minister said ₹4,500 crore has been spent on medical treatment for the poor over the past 27 months. He attributed pending dues under the Rajiv Aarogyasri scheme to the previous government and said payments are being cleared regularly.
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"Claims that private hospitals are shutting down due to Aarogyasri dues are false. The arrears are from the previous regime," he said.
He said dues stood at ₹600.27 crore when his government took office, including ₹240.11 crore to government hospitals and ₹360.16 crore to private hospitals. The scheme's coverage has been increased from ₹5 lakh to ₹10 lakh.
So far, ₹2,408.51 crore has been paid under the scheme. Monthly expenditure has risen to ₹89 crore, compared to ₹52 crore earlier. Pending dues are now ₹727 crore, with a smaller share owed to private hospitals.
Hospital expansion and reforms planned
The government plans to strengthen public hospitals and add 10,000 beds across the state. A new Osmania Hospital building will be constructed at Goshamahal on 30 acres at a cost of ₹3,000 crore.
Special categories will be created for hospitals in Alwal, LB Nagar, Sanathnagar and Warangal. The government is also considering routing Aarogyasri patients to teaching hospitals to improve utilisation.
Doctors performing surgeries in teaching hospitals will receive incentives. Administrative responsibilities of superintendents may be shifted to Group-I officers to reduce their burden.
The chief minister said an online system has been introduced for Chief Minister's Relief Fund (CMRF) applications to prevent misuse. Cheques worth ₹2,046 crore have been issued under the fund.
He added that life insurance coverage will be extended to 1.15 crore families under the Indiramma scheme.
CSR funds under scrutiny
Revanth Reddy expressed concern that companies operating in Telangana are spending Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds in other states.
He directed officials to ensure that more CSR funds are spent within Telangana and asked them to study policies followed by other states. A dedicated portal will be created to streamline CSR fund utilisation.