‘Divert Pranadanam Trust funds to SVIMS’

TIRUPATI: The CPI(M) has joined issue with the TTD for reportedly suspending the release of funds to its own super-speciality hospital - SVIMS, Tirupati, from the Pranadanam Trust after the introduction of the government-sponsored Arogyasri in the hospital.

The district unit of the party, which discussed the issue, wondered why the TTD which had specifically floated the Trust to provide free medicare to people of the backward Rayalaseema region should now go on a back-foot. The party noted that with the slashing of the funds from the Trust, the SVIMS was barely able to do justice to its existence. District secretary of the party K. Kumar Reddy pointed out that the TTD earned a bank interest of Rs.25 crore per year on the Rs.200 crore corpus fund available under the Pranadanam Trust and wanted that the same to be transferred to the SVIMS to help it meet the needs of the poor and the needy. The party also complained of inadequate bed-strength and staff strength in the SVIMS and pointed out that its daily average inflow of out-patients and in-patients was of the order of 1,000 and 200 respectively while its bed-strength remained as low as 450, which eventually forced the patients to wait long for their turn or to look for private hospitals.

It said the problem was more acutely felt in the causality ward which had only 20 beds while the ICUs remained crammed. The party also noted that though the introduction of Arogyasri brought more patients into the SVIMS, its staff and the bed-strength was not increased nor its patient/attendant amenities improved correspondingly to meet the additional load.

The party also wanted that the TTD to go to the rescue of the State-run SVRR and the Government Maternity hospital, Tirupati, which like any other government hospital is reeling under severe budget crunch, struggling even for drugs not to speak of life-saving medicines.