Government winds up 'irrelevant' health panel

The State Cabinet, on Thursday, decided to wind up the Karnataka Health System Commission (KHSC) constituted by the previous BJP government.

Briefing reporters, Law Minister T B Jayachandra said the government felt there was no need to continue the commission as it was not entrusted with any specific duties. “We felt that the commission was irrelevant and it only amounted to duplication of work,”  Jayachandra said.

The BJP government had appointed former Bangalore University vice chancellor N Prabhu Dev as chairperson of the commission last September.

The Congress had then alleged that the commission and its post of chairperson were created only to accommodate Dr Dev. The previous regime had sought that the commission suggest ways and means to improve medical education, promote healthcare research, and integration of Indian system of medicine with modern medicine.

In another decision, the Cabinet decided to  provide 50 acres on the Karnataka University campus in Dharwad for setting up a unit of the Indian Institute of Information Technology.  
Jayachandra said ten acres in Angati village in Chikkaballapur would be provided for setting up Sir M Visvesvaraya National Training Centre for providing training to master trainers in skill development.

The Cabinet also gave its nod for establishing seven Mojarji Desai Residential Schools and five Kittur Rani Chennamma Residential Schools for ST students.