BENGALURU: In his maiden budget, Karnataka Chief Minister BS Bommai assured that he would bring social, education and economic prosperity to all downtrodden people. Keeping in mind the COVID-19 impact on health, education and nutrition, he announced a total of 5% allocation of budget funds this year amounting to Rs 13,982 crore for all health and family welfare programmes put together.
The government will identify the talukas which are performing below the state average in various developmental indicators. They will be known as aspirational talukas and emphasis will be given for comprehensive development of these talukas.
Higher priority will be given to these aspirational talukas under programmes of various departments.
Rs 3000 crore for education and malnutrition
The Chief Minister announced that there will be focus on these talukas to ensure outcome-oriented efforts. Rs 3000 crore has been announced to improve the quality of education in 93 talukas, strengthen the health services in 100 talukas and alleviate child malnutrition in 102 talukas.
Meanwhile, action will be taken by various departments to alleviate malnutrition. As some good news, to improve malnutrition in children, the Srishti and Ksheera Bhagya scheme will now be extended to children with moderate malnutrition also, from the current year.
Further, 32 district centres, 49 taluka centres and 37 nutrition rehabilitation centres will be established to care for malnourished children.
Also, Rs 500 crore will be provided for the development of infrastructure in government schools of the state. Priority will be given for selected aspirational talukas.
To improve quality of education in government schools of the state, schools having basic infrastructure facilities at the Hobli level will be upgraded as “model schools”.
Improvement of PHCs
One primary health centre (PHC) having higher workload will be identified in each of the 100 aspirational talukas and will be upgraded to 25-bed model community health centre in two years at a cost of Rs 1000 crore.
Meanwhile, to provide well equipped medical facilities at taluka level, seven taluka hospitals will be upgraded to 100-bed hospitals.
To meet SDG goals
Meanwhile, to meet the sustainable development goals 2030, even in 2021 the state had aimed at achieving a maternal mortality rate of less than 70 and infant mortality rate of less than 10. The government has promised to take all necessary steps to achieve these goals.
“Namma Clinics”
To ease detection of non-communicable diseases and refer treatment to specialists, the state will establish “Namma Clinics” on the lines of Delhi’s “Mohalla Clinics” in major cities of the state. The Chief Minister announced that they will be established in all wards of Bengaluru.
Meanwhile, 300 women health centres will be established in the year 2022-23 under the National Health Mission. They will provide advice for women related health issues and also function as women welfare centres.
Also, the state has announced that it would spend Rs 11 crore to set up mobile clics under the “Mukyamantri Arogya Vahini” at a cost of Rs 11 crore in Bidar, Chamarajanagara, Haveri and Chikkamagalur districts to provide excellent medical services at the doorsteps in rural areas.
Telemedicine will be used to provide quick specialist medical services at the level of the taluka itself. Services of expert and specialist doctors in the medical universities of the same district will be provided through telemedicine.
Meanwhile, to create better health faclites for construction workers whereever there is high density of workers, 100 hi-tech mobile clinics will be started with an aim of protecting their health.
Free dialysis
With an increase in the number of patients needing dialysis and to further strengthen the existing ones, the state government has increased the existing dialysis cycles per month to 60,000. For this purpose, an additional grant of Rs 20 crore has been allocated.
Also, to protect eyes of senior citizens of the state who are below the poverty line, free eye check-up and if necessary surgical treatment and distribution of spectacles will be taken up under NHM.
Cardiac and cancer treatment
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister has also announced that cardiac related treatments will now be provided at the taluka level itself to the rural people by mapping 75 taluka hospitals of the state with the Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research.
Meanwhile, to make high tech treatment available in North Karnataka, a regional cardiac centre of Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology will be established at a cost of Rs 250 crore in Hubballi.
Meanwhile, Kidwai Regional Cancer Centres will come up at a cost of Rs 50 crore in Belagavi. They are already there in Bengaluru, Tumakuru and Kalaburagi to provide timely and least expensive treatment to cancer patients.