Parties across the political spectrum lambasted the State government for the reported bid to take over the Government Maternity Hospital building and convert it into the administrative headquarters of Municipal Corporation of Tirupati (MCT).
Activists of the TDP, CPI, Congress and Jana Sena flayed the move as against the interests of the pregnant women, as the hospital at present caters to the gynaecological needs of poor women thronging it from across Rayalaseema.
CPI national secretary K. Narayana led a demonstration at the building on Tuesday and wondered how the government could give away on a platter the district’s lone facility for pregnant women. He maintained that the building helped get additional PG seats, which could now be reversed. “Did the government not find any building other than this 350-bed hospital?,” he wondered.
Women in power
Mr. Narayana called it ‘an irony’ that women were being deprived of a major facility, right under the nose of women in power. “The Minister for Medical and Health, the city Mayor and Commissioner are all women, but still injustice is happening right in front of their eyes,” he remarked.
The TDP said the move would directly affect the prospects of hundreds of pregnant and postnatal women. Telugu Yuvatha state General Secretary A. Ravi Naidu questioned the authority of the municipal administration in trying to evict the patients and clear the premises.
Congress leader P. Naveen Kumar Reddy dubbed it ‘unwise’ the move to convert the life-saving facility into a mere administrative building. He recalled that the hospital had been equipped with 186 oxygen-supported beds with ₹100 crore, four operation theatres and an emergency care unit with advanced lab. “With its magnificent infrastructure, valuable equipment and qualified staff, the hospital is hailed as a ‘Sanjeevani’ and should be thus retained,” he said.
Recalling the conversion of TTD building into district Collectorate, Jana Sena Tirupati city in-charge Raja Reddy wondered as to how many more buildings would the funds-starved State government take over, without constructing anything new. The party said the decision once again reflected the government’s ‘anti-people mindset’.
