BENGALURU: The BJP MLAs staged a walkout from the Assembly on Tuesday over the alleged lack of medicines in government hospitals in the state.
Health and Family Welfare Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao said there was no scarcity and claimed that the Karnataka State Medical Supplies Corporation (KSMSCL) has bought medicines for Rs 418 cr in 2023-24, Rs 543 crore in 2024-25 and Rs 439 crore in 2025-26. Tenders were called to buy medicines for Rs 868 crore, he added. He said that about 534 essential medicines were bought and the hospitals were asked to buy 356 medicines as approval given in August 2025.
However, BJP MLA and former home minister Araga Jnanedra said medicines have not reached the hospitals.
“To ensure the quality of the medicines they were released to hospitals from warehouses only after sample check. We have adapted the Tamil Nadu model to check quality”, the minister said. If the medicines have not reached the hospitals will people keep quiet, the minister asked.
Leader of opposition R Ashoka asked the minister to keep the medicines permanently in the warehouse. “The doctors are saying medicines have not reached hospitals. What you are saying is bogus. The government has become bankrupt,” he alleged. Dinesh said that being a minister he is not the kind who says bogus things.
Senior BJP MLA Dr C N Ashwathnarayan alleged that the health system has collapsed in the state. Dinesh said Ashwathnarayan could not deliver the goods when he was health minister and is now criticising the Congress government which is bringing in reforms. After a heated debate the BJP MLAs staged a walkout while the JDS MLAs remained in the House.
Earlier Dinesh claimed that the health department has catered to 51 lakh families through ‘Gruha Arogya’ by visiting them. Over 28 lakh people are under treatment for hypertension, where as ailments such as cancer, diabetic foot, retinopathy, anemia, malnutrition are being addressed through this.
“Much before Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced free chemotherapy, we had implemented it in district hospitals with 459 patients benefiting from it. Under Puneeth ‘Hridaya Jyothi’ programme 25,000 people benefited with 18,000 being given injections to remove blood clots,” he said.
Before the Congress government came to power the situation for dialysis patients was bad and now new machines were procured and 7,767 patients have benefited, he claimed adding that the ‘Shuchi’ programme for women which was stopped has been restarted.
Congress MLA BR Patil, State Policy and Planning Commission Chairman, said there should be a public hearing before taking a call on the closure of Community Health Centres (CHCs).
The minister said the spat between principal secretary Dr Harsh Gupta and the secretariat staff was settled.
R Ashoka presented a copy of the letter that Harsh Gupta had written to DPAR saying the secretariat staff were incompetent.
Vaccine under trial for KFD
The minister said that clinical trial of a vaccine for Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD), AKA ‘monkey fever’ is underway at Indian Immunologicals Ltd (IIL) in Hyderabad. He said one death has been reported in the state. BJP MLA Araga Jnanendra demanded a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the kins of the deceased.