Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao
Credit: DH File Photo
Officials in the Department of Health and Family Welfare were working in concert with their counterparts in the police department to prevent instances of female foeticide across the state, Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dinesh Gundu Rao said on Wednesday.
In addition to raids being conducted on illegal ultrasound scanning centres in several places such as Pandavapura in Mandya, Belagavi, and Kodagu districts, cases are being filed, charges are being framed against both individuals and agencies involved in conducting tests to determine the sex of the unborn child, the minister said.
“We are closely monitoring the progress of all the cases filed. The government will soon deliberate on whether laws about female foeticide can be strengthened further,” Rao said.
He said the Congress government was leaving no stone unturned to improve the public healthcare system. The fact that the availability of medicines had doubled, from 40% during the previous government’s tenure to 80% now, illustrated the government’s commitment, he said.
Rao visited the Seth Mohandas Tulasidas Maternal and Children’s Hospital in the city. He expressed pleasure with the rise in the number of successful deliveries at the hospital in 2024 compared to the figures registered last year.
The government’s decision to hike the price of diesel and petrol has ignited a minor political storm, Dinesh Gundu Rao, however, defended the move. “Fuel prices are higher in our neighbouring states – Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Maharashtra. When the BJP was in power in Karnataka, the share of the Central Taxes devolved to the state came down,” the minister added.
The state government’s flagship 'guarantee' schemes were improving the life of the poor, besides empowering women, he said.
Rao, reacting to allegations of the Medical Education Department being under pressure to change the autopsy report, said, “The government is not interfering with the probe, being conducted in a bipartisan manner by the police. The fans must not adopt extreme attitudes.”