BENGALURU: In a major decision, the Basavaraj Bommai cabinet on Thursday gave administrative approval to set up a campus for Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) at Archakarahalli in Ramanagara district, at an estimated cost of Rs 600 crore.
“After a series of struggles, the RGUHS campus is finally coming up, and the engineering division of the health department will implement the project,” Minister for Health and Family Welfare and Medical Education Dr K Sudhakar told reporters. Many health department projects, worth over Rs 1,000 crore, under the state and Centre’s flagship programmes, got administrative approval in the cabinet.
Among these are a 100-bed critical care block at the district hospital in Tumakuru at Rs 56 crore, at Kolar, Chamarajanagar and Karwar Institutes of Health Sciences, collectively costing Rs 49.89 crore, under the PM’s ABHIM programme. A nursing college and hostel will come up in Tumakuru at an estimated cost of Rs 20 crore.
As per budgetary provision, 100 Primary Health Centres were identified for upgradation as community health centres, and 47 got approval with funding of over Rs 400 crore, Sudhakar said, and hoped the remaining 53 would get clearance at the next cabinet meeting.
Under the National Health Mission (NHM), five new women and child hospitals will be constructed at Chikkaballapura, Chikkamagaluru, Raichur, Bagalkote and Davanagere districts, and two such hospitals in Davanagere will be upgraded at an estimated cost of Rs 158 crore.
Administrative approval has also been given to set up a trauma care centre at K C General Hospital in Malleswaram in Bengaluru, at a cost of Rs 35 crore. The cabinet approved the ‘sandalwood policy 2022’ which will ensure that farmers cultivate sandalwood and sell it in the open market.
The government will help farmers adopt technology, especially to check the pilferage of trees. There was a demand from private and government agencies, including the Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Limited, that manufactures sandal oil soaps, which have to import sandalwood oil from Australia. The new policy will meet both demand and supply, the minister explained.
Session from Dec 19 to 30
A joint legislature session will be held from December 19 to 30 at Suvarna Vidhana Soudha in Belagavi. The winter session will also see Christmas holidays overlap.
New sanctuaries
The cabinet also gave its nod to new wildlife and bird sanctuaries at Uttaregudda, Bankapura, bear sanctuary at Arasikere and Hiresulekere. Bird sanctuaries at Chikkasangama, Mundigekere and Bonala will be notified.
Other decisions