Hyderabad: With Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao keen on setting up more Basti Dawakhanas in Greater Hyderabad to extend primary health services to the urban poor free of cost, the GHMC is ready to open another 58 of them as and when the State government sanctions adequate medical staff to run them. Presently GHMC is running 118 Basti Dawakhanas in the city.
The 58 Basti Dawakhanas were set up in the community halls in different parts of the city with required infrastructure but there is no staff to run them. The Telangana Medical and Health Department has not sanctioned doctors, nurses and other paras medical staff to run these health centres. As and when the required medical staff are sanctioned by the government, these Dawakhanas will be made functional, GHMC officials told Express.
GHMC has proposed to set up 350 Basti Dawakhanas, two each in 150 GHMC divisions. Taking a cue from Delhi’s Mohalla Clinics, the GHMC in association with National Health Mission has set up these health centres in its limits. The purpose of these dawakhanas is to take quality medical and health services for free to the doorsteps of the urban poor. It envisages the achievement of universal access to affordable and quality health care services that are accountable and responsive to people’s needs.
The officials said that these basti dawakhanas would be established in places where there is a substantial population of SCs, STs, minorities and the poor. Of the planned 350 neighbourhood clinics, 247 have been sanctioned by the Centre and the remaining by the Corporation. Of them, 118 have been functioning and another 58 clinics are ready but need support staff. For the remaining 174, suitable sites are being identified by the GHMC to construct buildings or take buildings on rent.
Each Basti Dawakhana needs a doctor, a staff nurse and one support staff. The State government has to sanction 1,050 medical staff. To run each medical centre, the officials said they need Rs 1.41 lakh every month of which Rs 86,000 goes towards staff salaries, Rs 3,000 for drugs, Rs 20,000 for diagnostics and Rs 5,000 for maintenance.