YSRC chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy lashed out at the TDP on Friday when he visited kidney patients at PC Pally mandal in Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh.
The YSRC chief visited villages in Amaravati on Thursday to support the farmers’ protest against the state government’s move to acquire their lands for the capital city.
He continued his tour of coastal districts on Friday.
During his tour in PC Pally, he interacted with the kidney patients and accused the Chandrababu Naidu government of showing a lack of concern towards the residents of the village.
“In the last two years, as many as 424 people died of kidney ailments in Prakasam district but nothing has been done to address the problem,” he told The New Indian Express.
The AP Chief Minister issued two GOs (government order) on Thursday for setting up dialysis units at three centres, after learning that I was visiting the affected villages, he added.
Jagan accused the government of being negligent about healthcare and said, “The healthcare scheme- Arogya Sri - is now in death bed in AP. It needs a budget of Rs 910 crore but only Rs 568 crore has been allotted. Of this, Rs 368 crore goes towards payment of arrears to the hospitals.”
He also said that as soon as he comes to power, he would take special care of the people’s health needs and would make sure that no one gets into debt for medical expenses.
The kidney patients, while sharing their difficulties with Jagan, also mentioned that the dialysis treatment cost of upto Rs 24, 000 every month, was not affordable for them.
Dialysis costs Rs 2, 000 to Rs 3, 000 for one session and a patient needs to have dialysis at least three times a week.
Learning about the patients’ difficulties, Jagan recalled his late father YS Rajasekhar Reddy who had ensured that the poor would have access to corporate healthcare.
Today, however, the ambulances do not have any medical equipment, he said.
After listening to the woes of the fluorosis victims, Jagan said that the solution lay in completion of the Velugonda project, which would supply safe drinking water.