Hyderabad: T. Harish Rao, leader of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and former Health Minister, asserted on Monday that diagnostic hubs in Telangana face imminent closure under the Congress government’s administration.
Rao lamented the collapse of diagnostic hubs established by the previous BRS administration to provide complimentary diagnostic services to the public. He criticized the current government for dismantling a system that had been operational for just five months.
During his tenure, Rao highlighted that Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao had initiated 36 diagnostic centers statewide, offering 134 different diagnostic tests free of charge to the public. He emphasized that these hubs had alleviated financial burdens on underprivileged individuals seeking quality medical tests.
Expressing concern, Rao disclosed that the centers’ personnel have reportedly not received salaries for six months, citing this as evidence of the government’s negligence towards public health. He urged immediate government intervention to ensure staff salaries are paid promptly and that comprehensive diagnostic services continue to be accessible to the public.
The Telangana diagnostic hubs were launched in 2021 by the state government with the objective of providing free, high-quality diagnostic and imaging services to the public. Initially offering pathological services, the hubs subsequently expanded to include imaging services such as X-ray, ECG, MRI, ultrasound, and CT scan, each established in district headquarters.
