Rao’s family writes to HM, seeks report of his health status

The family of octogenarian Telugu poet Varavara Rao, an undertrial in the Elgar Parishad - Bhima Koregaon case, has written to the state Home Minister, requesting that he direct the Taloja jail authorities or Nanavati hospital for information on Rao’s health status.

They said in the letter, a copy of which is sent to the Additional Director General, Prisons, “We hope you will understand the anxiety of a family who is kept in dark for 12 days when a member is lodged in hospital in a grave condition,” and emphasised Rao’s age and that he has tested positive.

It is his duty to inform the family in case of any problem to his health as per the Charter of Patient Rights prepared by the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministr y, they said. All the time he was admitted in three different hospitals, the only time they were provided any information about him was about Rao testing positive for coronavirus on July 16, the letter said.

The family narrated how their calls to the Taloja prison are going unanswered, calls to the superintendent of the prison disconnected or they are being told that the jail has no information on his health. Similarly, they were stonewalled by Nanavati hospital, with the hospital PRO telling them that the hospital has been updating the jail authorities about Rao’s condition. Saying that it was ‘ver y clear ” that the jail authorities have regular updates about his health condition, they called it ‘inhuman’ and ‘unethical’ to withhold information about his health from his anxious family.

This is the third time the family has made an appeal for information on his health condition. On July 20, they had made a press release, demanding information on his health and, on July 24, they had written to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) regarding the issue.