Laboratory-on-wheels project stuck due to lack of government approval

On June 6, this year, the Rotary Foundation had handed over four fully-equipped mobile labs to Chief Minister Bommai

Nearly five months since its launch, the state’s ‘Lab Built on Wheels’ (LBOW) project is far from taking off.

On June 6, this year, the Rotary Foundation had handed over four fully-equipped mobile labs to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, in memory of actors Puneeth Rajkumar and Sanchari Vijay. The labs were supposed to provide cost-effective services in rural areas. But the project is still awaiting the state government’s approval.

The BSL-2 labs were developed at a total cost of Rs 4 crore, using funds from the Infosys Foundation. They can carry around four people, and has a clinic, lab and pharmacy.

Of the four labs, only one is being used now by Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology, says B S Lingadevaru, Director of the project at Rotary.

“We had approached Kidwai on knowing that they needed vehicles. They started using one vehicle about three months ago, but it has not been used in the last 20 days as repairs were needed to the mammography machine,” he says.

The government was interested in using the remaining three vehicles as well as another mobile lab that Rotary had deployed for Covid testing in Tumakuru last year, says Lingadevaru.

State Health Commissioner D Randeep says the LBOW project has been included in the Mukhya Mantri Arogya Vahini Scheme, announced in this year’s budget. Under the scheme, health camps will be conducted using mobile clinics in Haveri, Chikkamagaluru, Chamarajanagar and Bidar districts.

According to the department, Rotary’s mobile labs can be used for the scheme, but they will have to be accompanied by two mini-buses. One bus to carry doctors and technicians, and another to carry equipment like portable X-ray, foldable beds, etc., required to set up medical camps in villages, says Randeep.

The government is yet to approve the department’s proposal. Once approved, the mini buses will have to be
procured.

“We will use the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal for quicker procurement. If we receive approval in a week, the procurement can be done by the end of November,” says Randeep.