GANDHI MEDICAL COLLEGE HYDERABAD 92 BATCH

AP government converts jail into hospital
Nadamuni Sridhar

The Government of Andhra Pradesh at a high-level cabinet meeting chaired by the chief minister has decided to allot 17 acres of prime land in the Musheerabad Jail Complex at Hyderabad for the construction of Gandhi Hospital and an associated Gandhi Medical College. While no doubt it will render the AP exchequer poorer by Rs 44 crore for construction, the move was a welcome development in the otherwise bleak scenario of government hospitals in AP.

A visit to the public hospitals Osmania and Gandhi Hospital at their present location, is an eye-opener for the appaling state of patient care facilities and the devil-may-care attitude of the hospital staff, while the corporate hospitals deliver the goods in their five-star outfits, for a hefty price though.

The government of AP is keen at least now to improve the tarnished image of government hospitals. The CM says, ‘‘The Rs 40 crore loan from Hyderabad Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) will be used to equip the proposed hospital with state-of-the-art facilities so it could become a role model for other government hospitals. “The new hospital will in all probability have 2000 beds, up from the current 1100. As per the Medical Council of India guidelines, the hospital and the medical college will be in the same premises.”

The govt. move has come after much agony for the public and hospital staff alike after 204 days of agitation by the doctors and paramedical staff of the Gandhi Hospital (the Public Accounts Committee saw the writing on the wall to recommend shifting onto the jail premises). In fact, the decision to build anew was taken by the late CM, N T Rama Rao, whereas his son-in-law, the current CM had other ideas to build a shopping mall instead, at the cost of healthcare. But then, wisdom prevailed at the end of the day even as the jail had no problems shifting on to the outskirts at Cherlapally village.

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