Doctors’ body demands newly-constructed secretariat building for Osmania General Hospital

“If the new secretariat building is for the people of Telangana, we are also demanding it in the public interest itself as the new building construction is nowhere to be seen. So, better allocate the newly-constructed secretariat for the people of Telangana where they can get treated by doctors,” said HRDA president Dr K Mahesh Kumar.

Four years on, no decision

He further said that it had been four years since we filed a petition in the Telangana High Court regarding the construction of a new OGH building.

“Till now, the ministers have been making oral statements for the revival of the old building and the construction of a new building, but till the last hearing on 7 February in the high court, the government has not come up with the blueprint or any substantiated plan for the hospital. Moreover, public health is getting affected due to this,” said Kumar.

He added that patients were being treated under temporary fabrication sheds, and all departments were clubbed into wards, causing congestion and inconvenience to patients and staff of OGH.

The members said the old OGH building could be allocated to the secretariat temporarily as the expert committee reported that the old building could be used for administrative purposes.

Also read: OGH, a decaying wonderland caught between heritage, health

Unkept promises

Telangana Health Minister T Harish Rao said in November 2022 that plans were afoot to construct a new building.

“The issue has been pending as some people approached the court. Recently, the state government constituted a heritage committee to look into various aspects of the issue. The proposal of the heritage committee was also submitted to the high court,” he said.

The minister added that the heritage building would be protected as it was, and nonheritage structures would be demolished in a phased manner, with new buildings constructed in their place

Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi demanded that the Telangana government build a new hospital when he visited the Osmania General Hospital in June 2021.

“We are not at all concerned about the heritage building. We are concerned about people’s lives. If you want to keep the building, keep it. If you want to demolish it, do so,” said Owaisi during his visit.