Hyderabad: Chief minister A Revanth Reddy on Thursday said the govt cleared 2,408 crore Rajiv Aarogyasri dues over the last two and a half years, rebutting claims that private hospitals were closing due to pending dues. Speaking in the assembly, he said despite inheriting 627 crore pending dues from the previous BRS govt, the state currently has only 727 crore pending dues, mostly to govt hospitals. He added that the number of patients availing treatment under Aarogyasri has increased over the last 27 months since the Congress came to power. “It is because of BRS that we have Aarogyasri dues in the state. While they spent an average 52 crore per month during their regime, we are spending 89 crore per month. Payments are being made continuously, and only dues from previous govt remain pending,” the CM said, adding that of the cleared dues, 927 crore was paid to govt hospitals and 1,480 crore to private hospitals.‘CMRF misused’Taking a dig at the opposition, he said there were several irregularities in the past regarding Chief Minister’s Relief Fund (CMRF) cheques. “Some people misused this relief fund, and cases were filed. After our govt came to power, we introduced an online application system, eliminating the scope for irregularities. So far, 2,046 crore has been given under the CMRF. Our govt has allocated 4,500 crore for the healthcare of the poor,” he said.Despite having 35 medical colleges in the state, Revanth said patients were not utilising these teaching hospitals. “We are considering sending Aarogyasri patients to teaching hospitals. By doing so, doctors will gain better work experience and hospital management will also improve,” he said, adding that the govt was also mulling providing special incentives to doctors performing surgeries at these hospitals.Revanth also said the state was planning to relieve hospital superintendents of management duties by appointing a dedicated Group-1 or Group-2 level officer so that they could focus completely on patient care.
