They have been prevented from entering the Gandhi Hospital and arrested, before being shifted to the Narayanaguda police station.
Hyderabad: The police on Monday arrested the members of the BRS fact-finding committee on public healthcare, formed to study the maternal and infant mortalities at Gandhi Hospital and analyse the current state of healthcare services available in government hospitals across Telangana. They have been prevented from entering the Gandhi Hospital and arrested, before being shifted to the Narayanaguda police station.
As the committee was scheduled to visit Gandhi Hospital, a large number of police personnel reached the houses of the committee members, including president and former Deputy Chief Minister Dr T Rajaiah, MLA Dr Kalvakuntla Sanjay and former MLA Dr Metuku Anand, and tried to prevent them from visiting the hospital.
However, Sanjay and Anand along with BRS MLA and district president Maganti Gopinath managed to reach Gandhi Hospital, where they were placed under arrest. Police personnel were deployed in large numbers at the hospital, ahead of the scheduled visit of BRS leaders.
The committee members said they were visiting Gandhi Hospital as doctors to ascertain the facts and give suggestions to the government. They also said the initiative was not to politicise the issue. “Why is the government worried about our visit to hospitals to examine the conditions? Is the government hiding the issue of maternal and child deaths in Gandhi Hospital or are they afraid that the failure of their administration will be exposed?” they asked.
Similar arrests were reported from different parts of the State including BRS MLA Palla Rajeshwar Reddy in Warangal, ahead of their visit to the local government hospitals.
Reacting to the arrests, BRS working president KT Rama Rao attacked the Congress government for attempting to prevent a fact-finding committee comprising experienced doctors from visiting the government hospitals. He condemned the arrests and demanded for their immediate release. “This must be a first! Arresting members of a fact-finding committee? What exactly is this government scared of? The truth coming out? Their gross inefficiencies being exposed,” he asked.
He stated that if there is nothing to hide, let the BRS fact-finding committee investigate as the report will only improve public health and expose the rot in the system. “But your ego, Mr. Cheap Minister, is single-handedly destroying Telangana. Stop playing with people’s lives,” he added, targeting Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy.
