Andhra govt 'conspiring' to undermine NTR Vaidya Seva scheme by leaving Rs 2,700 cr dues: Sharmila

Amaravati, Oct 10 (PTI) Andhra Pradesh Congress President YS Sharmila on Friday accused the TDP-led government of “conspiring” to dismantle Aarogyasri (NTR Vaidya Seva) health scheme by "failing" to clear Rs 2,700 crore in dues owed to private hospitals.

Starting today, the Andhra Pradesh Speciality Hospitals Association (ASHA) has suspended health services under NTR Vaidya Seva, a government health scheme.

“Keeping Rs 2,700 crore pending dues is a conspiracy to completely eliminate Aarogyasri (NTR Vaidya Seva),” said Sharmila in a Congress press release.

Alleging that the scheme was being killed under the garb of private insurance, the opposition leader pointed out that network hospitals had already gone on strikes twice in a year.

Against this backdrop, she underscored that the government's apathy towards paying the bills exposes its “steadfastness” towards public health, adding that the alleged lack of corrective action even after suspending outpatient services for a month is "deplorable".

Highlighting that Aarogyasri was the brainchild of her late father and former CM Y S Rajasekhar Reddy, Sharmila called it a ‘panacea’ for poor people’s health problems. She criticised the state government for failing to allocate Rs 4,000 crore for the scheme while finding “money to pay insurance companies”.

Reacting to the southern state's plans to engage insurance companies to extend healthcare services, Sharmila noted that 16 out of 18 states which took that route have reverted.

According to Sharmila, tying up with private insurance companies will only burden the state without any benefit. She demanded that the government run NTR Vaidya Seva under trust mode only.

Further, she urged the government to clear the Rs 2,700 crore pending dues to cease the hospitals' strike.

Meanwhile, ASHA said hospitals under the NTR Vaidya Seva Network are facing an unsustainable financial crisis, despite struggling to continue services for months, the situation has now become unmanageable.

“As a result, the Andhra Pradesh Specialty Hospitals Association has decided to suspend all NTR Vaidya Seva services across network hospitals starting October 10,” it said in a press release.

Noting that pending dues have crossed Rs 2,700 crore, ASHA said month after month these arrears continue to increase, putting immense financial strain on hospitals providing essential services to the public.

Repeated appeals by ASHA to senior government officials for the clearance of these dues have not yielded any positive outcome, it said, adding that though assurances have been made, no concrete steps were taken or has any result been seen.

PTI STH ROH