A man was sent back to his home town in Telangana after being treated for Covid-19 at a hospital in Dubai. The man’s hospital bill was also waived off and was given a free ticket and an amount of Rs 10,000.
Odnala Rajesh, 42, of Venugumatla village in Gollapalli Mandal of Jagtial district, Telangana was admitted to ‘Dubai Hospital’ in Dubai, UAE on April 23 due to some illness and was also tested positive for coronavirus. Rajesh, who recovered after 80 days of treatment, was discharged by the hospital and handed over a bill of 7,62,555 Dirhams (Rs 1 crore 52 lakh).
Gundelli Narasimha, president of the Gulf Workers Protection Society in Dubai, who had admitted the worker to the hospital and visited him regularly, brought the matter to the attention of Sumanth Reddy, an Indian Consulate volunteer in Dubai.
Volunteer Sumanth Reddy and Ashok Kotecha of BAPS Swaminarayan Trust requested Harjeet Singh, Consul (Labour) of Indian Consulate in Dubai to help the poor worker. Consulate Officer Harjeet Singh wrote a letter to Dubai Hospital management asking them to waive off the bill on humanitarian grounds and they responded positively and waived the bill and discharged the patient.
Ashok Kotecha provided free flight tickets to the patient Odnala Rajesh and his escort Dyavara Kankaiah and paid Rs 10,000 for pocket expenses. The patient and escort were sent by Air India flight from Dubai to Hyderabad on July 14. After reaching the Hyderabad airport at night, Telangana NRI officer E Chittibabu granted permission to a 14-day home quarantine and handed over the patient to his family members and sent him back to his native village.
