Dubai hospital waives ₹1.5-crore bill of Telangana COVID-19 patient

HYDERABAD: At a time when private hospitals in the city are charging exorbitant amount for treating Covid-19, a hospital in Dubai waived off Rs 1.52 crore bill of a patient from Telangana.

Odnala Rajesh (42) of Venugumatla village in Gollapalli mandal of Jagtial district, was admitted to ‘Dubai Hospital’ in Dubai on April 23 and tested positive for the virus. Rajesh took 80 days to recover and while getting discharged received a bill of Rs 1.52 crore.

His ordeal was brought to the notice of Indian Consulate in Dubai by the Gulf Workers Protection Society president Gundelli Narasimha. Following that, the Consulate wrote a letter to the Dubai Hospital. "The family has requested us to repatriate Rajesh to India and has expressed their financial inability to afford the bill. We shall be grateful if you can waive off the charges on humanitarian grounds," Harjeet Singh, Consul (Labour), wrote in his letter. His request was accepted by the hospital.

A person named Ashok Kotecha provided free flight tickets from Dubai to Hyderabad to Rajesh and his escort Dyavara Kankaiah and paid another Rs 10,000 for their expenses.