TDP Regime’s Apathy Towards Kidney Patients In Palasa

Deppuru Koodali, Srikakulam district: All along the Padayatra today, kidney disease patients and Cyclone Titli victims met me. It was in Vajrapukothuru mandal which I passed through today that Cyclone Titli crossed the coast.  Giant coconut trees play uprooted everywhere; cashew crops were destroyed and I could see for myself the devastation caused by the cyclone. Joga Rao of Mamidipalli met me and told me how his leg had been severed by a neighbouring house’s roof. Even after waiting for hours no help was forthcoming, he said.  He was carried on their shoulders by others to the Palasa government hospital kilometres away. When doctors at the government hospital said that they could not provide the required treatment to him, he was taken to a private hospital, where he was told Arogyasri would not apply to him.  He broke down saying that he had to borrow lakhs of rupees to get himself treated. He lamented that he was still running around government officials and TDP leaders for reimbursement and assistance. Villagers of Chinavanka have an equally tragic tale to narrate.  They did not receive any relief or assistance for some days after their village was battered by Cyclone Titli.  When they wanted to complain to the chief minister, he threatened them saying, “Keep your mouth shut. I will have you crushed by bulldozers.”

My padayatra proceeded along the birthplace of revolutionary movements, Boddapadu. It was here that movements for farmers’ rights and armed struggle for the tillers and toiling classes erupted. Women from Mamidipally and Boddapadu villages, all of whom were cashew nut workers met me. Many of them were over 60 years old and in the process of peeling cashew nuts, their skin got scraped. Their hands got blackened and the end of the day they did not even earn a paltry Rs 130, they lamented.  They were not given gloves and because the fingerprints got eroded, they were being denied pensions and rations, they complained with moist eyes.

Over 20 people who had been suffering from kidney diseases belonging to the villages of Gunipalli and Nittuu met me. They told me that the highest number of people suffering from kidney ailments from Gunipalli and every home had a patient suffering from kidney disease in this fishing village. They expressed their anguish stating that whatever they earned was proving to be insufficient for their treatment and the situation was much worse in the case of families which had 2-3 members who were suffering from kidney disease.  The government, however, sanctions dialysis for just one patient per ration card. Their question was what happens to the others. Denied dialysis, pensions and even ration the suffering of these villagers was beyond words. When one of the villagers said that it was better to opt for suicide than go through such suffering, I was overcome with sorrow.

I have a question for the chief minister—You had promised free medicines for patients suffering from kidney disease in every primary health centre and a nephrologist in every dialysis centre. Do you remember these words you uttered in your public meeting at Palasa. Two years have since lapsed. What happened to your promise.

Also Read: Palasa Cashew Units In A State Of Neglect Under TDP