Telangana forms panel to address issues of children orphaned by COVID-19
The Telangana government has decided to form a cabinet sub-committee under state Women and Child Welfare Minister Satyavathi Rathod to identify the conditions of children orphaned due to COVID-19 and come up with a plan to address their issues. The announcement came after the state cabinet met on Sunday, August 1, at Pragathi Bhavan in Hyderabad, to discuss the ongoing situation of COVID-19 and other issues in Telangana. Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao sought full details of children who have lost both of their parents due to COVID-19 and have become orphans. He ordered the Principal Secretary of Health and all the respective District Collectors to collate the information.
Ministers Harish Rao, Sabitha Indrareddy, Srinivas Goud, Talasani Srinivas Yadav, Koppula Eshwar, Gangula Kamalakar, Indrakaran Reddy, Jagadish Reddy, Errabelli Dayakar Rao and K Taraka Rama rao were included as members of the sub-committee. Meanwhile, the Telangana cabinet also discussed the current situation of the COVID-19 across the country and especially Telangana, where some districts are experiencing a high number of COVID-19 cases. Aspects of vaccination, hospitals, and other infrastructure facilities were also discussed.
In the meeting, the cabinet also discussed issues including the implementation of schemes like Dalit Bandu and Chenetha Bheema, besides precautionary measures to be taken before the third wave of the COVID-19 among others. It was also decided to resume physical classes in some of the medical colleges in various districts from the next academic year and officials were ordered to set up infrastructure at these institutes.
The progress of five upcoming super-speciality hospitals in Telangana was also discussed and officials were ordered to speed up the construction process and an update on the progress achieved so far was sought. The cabinet has decided to lay the foundation stone for these hospitals soon. All these super speciality hospitals would be named as Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences and are supposed to be equipped to provide quality healthcare, the government said.