Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s one-day tour to Patna on Wednesday to distribute ex gratia to families of 12 migrant workers who died in a fire accident in Hyderabad in March this year has drawn flak from the opposition parties in the state.
KCR, as the chief minister is called, also distributed ex gratia to the families of five soldiers killed in clashes with Chinese forces at Galwan valley in north-eastern Ladakh in June 2020.
The Telangana chief minister’s tour to Patna came at a time when the death of four women on Tuesday due to botched sterilisation surgeries at a community health centre in Ibrahimpatnam in Telangana’s Ranga Reddy district was rocking the state.
On Wednesday, state health minister T Harish Rao called on the women undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Hyderabad and assured them that the government would extend all help to them.
“There was not even a statement from the chief minister’s office expressing grief or shock over the death of four women and severe health complications to 30 others. Even the announcement of ₹5 lakh ex gratia and sanction of double-bedroom houses to each of the victims’ families was done by the state director of public health G Srinivasa Rao,” Telangana Bharatiya Janata Party president Bandi Sanjay said on Friday.
He said the chief minister was not bothered about calling the victims’ families. “Instead, the chief minister chose to fly down to Bihar to distribute cheques to the families of the migrant workers from Bihar who died in a fire accident at Secunderabad,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}He said the chief minister was not bothered about calling the victims’ families. “Instead, the chief minister chose to fly down to Bihar to distribute cheques to the families of the migrant workers from Bihar who died in a fire accident at Secunderabad,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Stating that even the health minister had no time to console the victims’ families, Sanjay demanded that the chief minister should have sacked the health minister holding him responsible for the unfortunate incident. “But he did not take any action, as Harish Rao happens to be his nephew,” he alleged.
He also questioned the timing of the payment of ex gratia to the families of Bihari migrant workers. “The accident took place in March, but he chose to fly down to Bihar six months later to pay the ex-gratia, only to mix it up with his political mission,” he said.
The BJP president further said that never in the past did KCR pay ex gratia to any family personally whenever such accidents took place. “When 60 people died in a bus accident at Kondagattu in Jagitial district a few years ago, KCR did not even bother to visit the place, leave alone calling on the victims’ families and pay ex gratia to them,” he criticised.
Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president A Revanth Reddy on Thursday alleged that KCR had no concern for the farmers of Telangana who were dying by suicide due to distress and army soldiers from the state who died at the borders.
“In 2013, Yadaiah, a jawan from Kondareddypalle village of Mahabubnagar district, succumbed to extremists’ firing in Kashmir. He was promised five acres of land and a government job by one of his family members. But the promise has not been fulfilled till now,” Reddy said.
Convenor of the PCC Gulf migrant workers’ committee, Singireddy Naresh Reddy, said that the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government promised to pay ₹5 lakh ex gratia to each of the families of the Gulf migrant workers who died due to distress.
TRS spokesman and MLC Palla Rajeshwar Reddy brushed aside the allegations of the opposition parties, saying the chief minister had never ignored any family. “It is unfortunate that they are finding fault with KCR for honouring the soldiers who made immense sacrifices for the nation. The soldiers do not belong to one state; they protect the entire country,” he said.