Bommai’s first Cabinet meeting likely to focus on healthcare

BENGALURU: Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai’s first cabinet meeting on Thursday morning, expected to be attended by all 29 ministers, is likely to focus on healthcare, considering the pandemic is still a harsh reality. With the psychological effects of Covid taking a toll on the people, experts have suggested many practical changes which the cabinet is expected to discuss.

It is likely to take up guidelines under the Mental Health Care Act. The need to provide healthcare to adolescent girls, who will be given  sanitary napkins in all aided and government institutions, is also on the agenda. The initiative costs close to Rs 50 crore, says an official estimate.

The cabinet is also expected to accord administrative approval to nearly 2,900 health centres which are to be upgraded into more comprehensive health centres at an estimated cost of about Rs 480 crore. This upgradation of health centres will come in handy as they serve the poorest of the poor across the state, at a time when the state is facing the Covid pandemic.

The cabinet is expected to accord administrative approval for a Mini Vidhana Soudha in Aland taluk of Kalaburagi district, which has been a long-pending demand of the people. About Rs 12.5 crore is expected to be sanctioned for the works. There was a demand from the Mata Amritanandamayi Mutt in Bengaluru, seeking change of land use for 22 acres in Southeast Bengaluru, off the Bengaluru-Sarjapur Road, and the cabinet is expected to grant administrative approval for this demand from ashram inmates, who met officials. The cabinet is also expected to take up a solid waste management project for Mangalore City Corporation, at an approximate cost of Rs 74 crore.