ANANTAPUR: Jana Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA), forum for public health protection movement, has appealed to Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy not to privatise the Public Health Centre at Gudibanda in Anantapur district.

In an open letter addressed to the Chief Minister and released here on Tuesday, M. Geyanand of Jana Vignana Vedika, A.G. Rajmohan of the CITU and others read out the letter near Ambedkar statue, a couple of hundred metres away from the Chief Minister's meeting venue here.

On behalf of the JSA, they urged the Government to withdraw the orders given to handover the PHC to an NGO run by Swamy Japananda. The step would be detrimental to public health services in the backward Madakasira area and would enable the Government to give away the responsibility of public health to private organisations.

Handing over of the PHC to an NGO in the name of poor performance was not acceptable. As per the orders issued, the NGO would also get access to the funds released by the Government for the maintenance of the PHC and the cost of medicines.

They sought to know as to how the Government had taken the decision when even people from Venkatapura village in Karnataka, where the NGO runs a health centre, came for check-up at Gudibanda PHC. The NGO was only into the peripheral public health activities, while the PHCs take care of core health services, they said.

Hunger strike on

They threatened to take up a united movement by people's organisations and trade unions if the Government failed to withdraw its orders issued for handing over of the PHC. Meanwhile, the relay fast taken up by United Medical and Health Employees' Union affiliated to CITU against the handing over here entered the fifth day.

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