HYDERABAD: The Telangana government on Thursday launched the scheme to provide three meals a day for Rs 5 each for attendants of patients at 18 government hospitals in the city.
Health minister T. Harish Rao launched the scheme at Osmania General Hospital, where home minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali, MLA Raja Singh, Telangana State Medical Services Infrastructure Development Corporation (TSMSIDC) chairman Errolla Srinivas and senior officials of the health department were present. The scheme was launched in the remaining 17 hospitals by various officials.
While patients are being provided food for free in government hospitals, their attendants, who stay in the hospitals for several days, find it difficult to get food. The scheme was launched for them. It is being implemented at an estimated cost of Rs 38.67 crore. For every meal, the government will pay a subsidy amount of Rs 21.25 to Hare Krishna Movement Charitable Foundation, which is also providing these meals in the GHMC’s Annapurna canteens.
TSMSIDC will act as the nodal department in implementing the scheme. Speaking on the occasion, the minister said when Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao had visited Gandhi Hospital during the pandemic, he had noticed that attendants of patients were struggling to get food.
As a result, he decided to implement this scheme, Harish said. He said an estimated 20,000 meals would be served in 18 hospitals in Greater Hyderabad. Harish Rao also participated in International Nurses Day celebrations at Gandhi Hospital on Thursday. Speaking at the event, he lauded nurses' contributions, especially during the pandemic, and spoke about the facilities the government was setting up for them.
