Hyderabad. 20 December Posted on 9:14 AM IST
Telangana Health Minister Damodar Raja Narasimha directed officials to expand medical services at Employees and Journalists Health Scheme wellness centers across Telangana. The move aims to improve access to quality healthcare for government employees and accredited journalists.
The minister issued the instructions during a review meeting held on Friday at the Aarogyasri Trust office in Hyderabad. The meeting focused on bringing specialty and super specialty services to EJHS wellness centres.
Officials discussed adding cardiology, nephrology, neurology, pediatrics, dermatology, and general surgery services in a phased manner. The minister stressed timely implementation and better coordination among departments.
Senior officials present included Health Secretary Christina Z Chongthu, Aarogyasri Trust CEO Uday Kumar, Director of Medical Education Narendra Kumar, NIMS Director Beerappa, and other senior officers.
At present, the Aarogyasri Trust manages 12 EJHS wellness centers across the state. These centers offer services such as general medicine, dental care, and physiotherapy. Some locations also provide gynecology, orthopedics, and general medicine.
As part of the expansion plan:
- Management of Khairatabad and Kukatpally wellness centres has been assigned to NIMS
- The remaining 10 centres have been handed over to the Medical Education Department
Officials said the restructuring will help bring specialist doctors closer to beneficiaries and reduce referrals to distant hospitals.
The minister said the goal is to ensure faster diagnosis and treatment for employees and journalists, with more services available at the neighbourhood level.
Telangana has 18000 accreditated journalists, all are eligibale for EJHS. The validity of existing accreditation cards has been extended four times where as journalist eagerly waiting or their new cards.
Many retired journalists urged government to resolve their housing issue. we have been demanding since years to hand over our plots from the land sites at Nizampet and Petbasheerabad, which were allotted to our housing society, a journalist said.
Mohammed Naseer Giyas is a multi-media and bilingual journalist with over 20 years of experience across print, digital, and television media. Founder of Raftaar-e-Deccan, he is an alumnus of IVLP, Thomson Reuters Foundation, and ICFJ, and has worked with leading English and Urdu news organisations.
