Infant, Maternal Deaths Probe: Tension erupts as BRS MLAs stopped from inspecting Gandhi Hospital
Hyderabad: Tensions flared at Gandhi Hospital on Monday after police arrested members of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) fact-finding committee and BRS MLAs who had arrived to evaluate the conditions in the hospital.
During the incident, a scuffle broke out between the police and the BRS leaders. Former Deputy Chief Minister T Rajaiah, along with former MLA Metuku Anand, MLAs Dr Sanjay Kumar, and Maganti Gopinath, were taken into custody and removed from the premises.
The BRS had previously appointed a three-member fact-finding committee, headed by Rajaiah, to investigate the deteriorating conditions in state-run hospitals, including Gandhi Hospital after reports of infant and maternal deaths at Gandhi Hospital surfaced last week.
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As per a TOI news report, when the members of the BRS fact-finding committee stepped inside the hospital to conduct an investigation, they were detained by the police. They were shifted to Narayanguda police station.
Reacting to the incident, BRS leaders told TOI, "People are more concerned about public health than they have been in ten years. We went there to find out why infant mortality has increased in Gandhi Hospital. The police were high-handed and did not let us into the hospital, treating us like some terrorists."
BRS Working President KT Rama Rao (KTR) strongly condemned the arrests. In a post on X, KTR questioned, "Why is the government afraid of a fact-finding committee looking into public institutions? If the committee conducts its work, will the truth about the Congress government's incompetence be exposed?"
KTR further argued that if the government has nothing to hide, it should allow the fact-finding committee to proceed. "The committee's report will highlight the problems faced by the people and provide suggestions to improve public healthcare. However, the Chief Minister's ego is preventing this from happening, putting the lives of Telangana's people at risk. I urge the CM to stop these reckless actions," KTR tweeted.
