Telangana to have 500 Basthi Dawakhanas by this June

Apart from the urban health centres, a total of 3206 Palle Dawakhanas would be fully functional across all parts of Telangana by the end of May, said Harish Rao

Hyderabad: To make quality primary healthcare services easily accessible to the poor in urban centres, the Telangana government is in the process of expanding the Basthi Dawakhanas initiative. By the end of June, all major and minor urban centres will have a total of 500 Basthi Dawakhanas in the State.

The plan is to ensure there are 350 Basthi Dawakhanas covering all the areas under GHMC and neighboring districts of Medchal-Malkajgiri and Rangareddy districts and the remaining 150 urban healthcare facilities cover the remaining major urban municipalities.

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In a review meeting here on Thursday, Health Minister, T Harish Rao said, “At present, there are 363 Basthi Dawakhanas in Telangana while 57 others are ready for inauguration. The remaining 80 Basthi Dawakhanas will be completed in the final phase by June-end.”

Arrangements would be made to have the Basthi Dawakhanas remain open on Sundays too if there is a need and demand. “We should be ready to remain open on Sundays and every day the senior doctor at Basthi Dawakhana should be available between 9 am and 4 pm,” the Minister said.

Apart from the urban health centres, a total of 3206 Palle Dawakhanas would be fully functional across all parts of Telangana by the end of May and efforts were underway to recruit 321 vacant posts in these Palle Dawakhanas. Legible Telugu sign boards highlighting the timings (9 am to 4 pm) and the list of health care services that are available at Palle Dawakhanas would be set-up, Harish Rao said.

The senior health officials were directed to ensure all major flagship medical infrastructure projects including construction of Warangal Health City, four Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences (TIMS) superspecialty hospitals and NIMS in Hyderabad were completed within this year.

“The Roads & Buildings department must ensure the deadlines are met, so that the new hospitals like TIMS, expansion of NIMS and Warangal Health City are completed within this year, preferably by Dasara,” he said.