Hyderabad: On Friday, Wasi Rahman, a Twitter user, sought MAUD Minister K T Rama Rao’s help through a tweet that read: “Urgently need Remdesivir six vials for a poor patient admitted in emergency at Satyam Hospital, Attapur, Hyderabad.” The Minister responded immediately and the vials were handed over to the patient.
Acknowledging the timely help, Wasi Rahman tweeted in reply: “Thank you so much for the earliest response sir. Patient received six vials Remdesivir within no time. Appreciate the good work you are doing for the needy.”
This was just one of the 150-odd requests that Rama Rao gets on an average daily. There are requests for oxygen concentrators, Remdesivir vials and other medicines too, and they all get the help within hours. “At times, the Minister responds even late in the night. In the last one week alone, the Minister came to the rescue of over 1,000 people,” says Dileep Konatham, Director of Digital Media, that handles people’s SOS.
So, how do they make it work? “There is a 10-member team of officials in the Minister’s office who are dedicated to this purpose and they work relentlessly to address the issues and helping the needy. A lot of effort goes into handling the requests and delivering help on time,” Dileep told Telangana Today.
Once the Minister directs his office to coordinate and look into a particular request, the members first call the patient’s attendants and check the requirements. Once these details are available, they are directed to a particular department. For instance, if someone seeks Black Fungus medicines, the team coordinates with the Director of Medical Education and the medicines are delivered at the doorsteps of the patients, he said.
In the case of requests for oxygen concentrators, the office has tied up with a voluntary organisation which supplies the concentrators on a loan basis free of cost. “The patients can use the concentrators for as many days as they need. Once they recover, the concentrators are taken back by the organisation. They handle the logistics and in case of any incidental expenditure, the Minister’s office bears the cost, Dileep said.
“The idea is to ensure prompt delivery for immediate use of concentrators. All precautions and mandatory tests are done to check the performance of concentrators before handing them over to the users,” he said.
When someone seeks help from far off places, like Adilabad or some other district, the Minister tags the local MLAs or District Collector to save time and ensure timely help.
And, in case of requests from neighbouring States, the Minister personally urges his counterparts and ensures that the needy are helped within no time.
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