Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on Tuesday conducted a virtual review with the management teams of private hospitals. The interaction was seemingly prompted by dozens of Twitter users tagging the Governor's handle on Monday and complaining about the exorbitant price they have had to shell out for treatment of the coronavirus.
Coming in the backdrop of allegations that the state has failed to handle the COVID-19 crisis, the timing of the interaction is seen as likely to stain relations between the Governor and the Telangana government.
The Governor called for a meeting on Tuesday following her interaction with citizens on Twitter. The video conference was attended by various representatives of hospitals such as KIMS, Yashoda, Basava Tarakam, Virinchi, Rainbow and Sunshine, Continental and others.
Tamilisai Soundararajan addressed the virtual conference from Raj Bhavan on Tuesday. While interacting with the management, the Governor sought details on the availability of beds, facilities and fees being charged at private hospitals. She enquired about certain complaints over refusal to admit patients who came with government health cards.
The Governor instructed the representatives of private hospitals to see to the smooth delivery of services and asked them not to charge patients excessively.
The Governor on Monday stated that she had called Telangana Chief Secretary and Principal Secretary of Health to discuss the COVID-19 situation prevailing across the state. This meeting too was scheduled to take place on Tuesday. However, the meeting did not go ahead as planned; reasons remain unknown.
Meanwhile, the Telangana BJP welcomed the Governor’s active intervention in handling the COVID-19 crisis. BJP spokesperson Krishna Saagar Rao, speaking to TNM, said, “The Governor should become more proactive, in fact she should call Chief Secretary and Health Secretary and Health Minister for the briefing.”
Criticising the Telangana government over being ‘manipulative’ and ‘evasive’, the BJP spokesperson said, “They are not in a position to brief the Governor. When she is asking for a briefing, they are trying to escape. People who have been lying throughout can’t face the truth as they have nothing structural to explain to the Governor.”
Earlier in June, it was reported that Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) would hold a cabinet meeting in the first week of July to discuss COVID-19 and containment plans, including announcing a lockdown in Hyderabad.
The Governor's intervention is raising eyebrows in political circles as it threatens to put the state government led by KCR in a tight spot.