Telangana gets government order to make 2 hospitals fulfil free poor quota deal

HYDERABAD: The state government on Tuesday assured the Telangana high court that two major corporate hospitals in the city would be made to honour their over three-decades old promise to treat poor patients for free as they were given public land at nominal rates only on that condition. The government also promised the court that the state health ministry would monitor the compulsory free service for the poor at the two corporate hospitals.
The state gave the assurance to a bench of Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice S Nanda hearing a PIL filed in the middle of the first wave of the pandemic in August 2020 complaining that the two hospitals - Apollo Hospitals in Jubilee Hills and Nandamuri Basava Taraka Rama Rao Memorial Cancer Hospital in Banjara Hills - never honoured their promise and were instead collecting huge amounts as deposits from patients' at the time of admission.

On Tuesday, advocate general BS Prasad handed a copy of GO Ms. No. 80 issued on July 16 making it mandatory 15% free inpatient services for Apollo Hospitals and 25% for Basavatarakam Cancer hospital - the latter has to provide this in addition to free 40% out-patient care every day. The free inpatient services include beds and surgical procedures. The AG said that the state would devise a mechanism to monitor implementation of the free quota under its Aarogyasri scheme.
The PIL filed in 2020 by social activist O M Debara had pointed out that while Apollo is holding land worth Rs 1,500 crore, Basavatarakam is in possession of land worth Rs 400 crore. Senior counsel Gandra Mohan Rao, who appeared for the petitioner, told the court that the state gave 30 acres to Deccan Medical Centre, the holding company of Apollo Hospitals, and 7.5 acres to Basavatarakam while giving exemption from paying crores of rupees under land ceiling norms.
"They were given land over three decades ago at a nominal price of Rs 8,500 per acre on the condition that they should serve the poor at least to an extent of 15% of their bed strength. But they are collecting Rs 1 lakh per day from patients. They were set up on public land and they owe a responsibility towards the poor. Since they are not honouring the conditions, the land should be taken back," Rao had told the court.