Karnataka to spend Rs 2,600 crore in next 5 years on health infrastructure, says Sudhakar

Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar said that Karnataka in the next five years will spend more than Rs 2,600 crore to improve its primary, secondary and tertiary health centres.

Speaking to media persons on Monday at Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences, Hubballi after participating in the live telecast of the Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission launch by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi, Sudhakar said that the Union government will provide nearly 60% of the total funds under the 15th financial plan, while the remaining amount will be footed by the State government.

The main aim of the scheme has been to develop medical centres in slums and underprivileged areas, he said and added that the government would concentrate on urban health centres, as their numbers are less compared to rural primary health centres.

Also Read | State rolls out free pneumococcal vaccine drive for infants

“All the 30 districts of the State would benefit from this scheme and the 17 medical colleges will get Health Centre units. Efforts will be made to provide the best possible health care facilities at all the primary, secondary and tertiary centres,” he said.

Not prestige issue

Sudhakar said that Hangal bypolls election is not a prestige issue for Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai. “Of course, there is a curiosity in the results of Hangal by-polls as it is the home district of CM. However, as Bommai has said on day one of the by-polls, it's not a matter of his prestige but development of the constituency that will benefit if the BJP candidate wins,” he said.

Genomic sequencing

Also Read | Statement on modern women unwilling to marry and bear children was taken out of context: Sudhakar

The health minister said the government has instructed the officials to conduct genomic sequencing of Covid patients on regular basis to ensure the prevention of the third wave. “We are aware that a few countries are reporting the third wave of Covid. In Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, the governments have started genomic sequences of the virus. So has the Karnataka government,” he said.

The minister said since the reopening of schools and colleges, the State has not witnessed a spike in Covid cases. Based on these studies we have re-opened schools from class 1 on Monday. “The government will monitor the situation and if any school reports more than 1% of the positive rate, such schools will be asked to close for 14 days.”

Watch the latest DH Videos here: