CM Siddaramaiah lays foundation for district Government MC hospital
Pics by Prasanna Kodavoor, Team Mangalorean
Udupi: The foundation stone was laid for Karnataka State Government Koosamma Shambhu Shetty Memorial Haji Abdullah Maternity Children Charity Hospital on Sunday, October 30.
Chief Minister of Karnataka Siddaramaiah who arrived after completing his Mangaluru Visit planted saplings at the Karnataka State Government Koosamma Shambu Shetty Memorial Haji Abdullah Maternity Children Charity Hospital and proceed to the Town hall.
The Stage programme began with and the State Anthem, Pramod Madhwaraj Minister for Fisheries, Sports and Youth Affairs and also district minister in-charge welcomed the gathering and said that The MOU signed between the Health Department, Government of Karnataka and businessman Dr B R Shetty for setting up a charity and centre for excellence hospital is to promote better health and care to the poor and deprived, and has no commercial interests. BRS Health Research Institute Private Limited will be constructing a 200 bedded mother and child hospital within a period of one year.
The centre for excellence hospital shall follow the Government of Karnataka guidelines while treating Health Assurance beneficiaries and BPL card holders. A monitoring committee consisting of the deputy commissioner, district health officer, district surgeon and representatives from the service provider will monitor the progress of the project. The 400 bedded Centre for Excellence hospital shall be built, operated and managed by the service provider and the day to day management of the hospital will be with the service provider. The service for any mother and child hospital seeking emergency treatment is completely free of cost at the Centre of Excellence hospital.
Once the Memorial Hospital is built, the Old MCH Hospital will be demolished. In its place Dr B R Shetty has proposed to build a 400-bed capacity world class, state of the art – super specialty hospital to provide the best medical service to the general public. Treatment in this super specialty hospital shall be chargeable as per reasonable rates fixed in a transparent manner. The revenue so generated will be utilized for running to MCH Unit.
The super specialty hospital shall also treat critical patients in the Mother and Child Hospital who are in need of super specialty services as per the norms of the Government of Karnataka’s Department of Health and Family welfare.
Chief Minister of Karnataka Siddaramaiah inaugurated the programme by lighting the lamp and later unveiled the foundation stone plaque.
Addressing the gathering Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that the state government is committed to the welfare of for the poor, Dalits, OBCs, farmers, women and all other weaker sections. The government spends nearly 1.63 lakh crore rupees every year on various schemes and projects. Of which nearly Rs 6000 to 7000 crore is for health care amenities. He said that nearly 80 percent of the assurances made in the election manifesto have been fulfilled. The government Will always stand by its promises.
Further, the Chief Minister said that the Congress-led state government is totally against the privatization process and would not go for any project that would support the concept of privatization. The people who oppose the project are either ignorant of the intention of the project or it is purely political antagonism. He said that the Congress-led state government has always stood for the poor and there would be no comprise when it comes to the facilities offered to the poor, he added.
The state government is the voice of poor, he said and added that the government is the epitome of secularism. It stands for the poor, Dalits, OBCs, farmers, women and all other weaker sections of the society. He added that everything is not possible by the government, but the government has to comprise somewhere to reach out to the poor. The only available option is taking the private parties into the ventures and running the show.
Expressing his grief against the sufferings of the poor who are made to spend lakhs of rupees for health care amenities in the private hospitals, the CM added that the poor who cannot pay the hefty bills of the private hospital come seeking for help. The 200 bedded hospital is for the poor and will remain for the poor, he reiterated. Emphasizing on the commitment of the government to the poor, the CM said that the state government will remain for the poor and downtrodden no matter what.
While concluding his speech chief minister Siddaramaiah greeted the people of the district as well as the state on the occasion of Diwali.
Addressing the gathering Ramesh Kumar minister for Health and family welfare said that the government is all set to bring a new bill to regulate the functioning of private hospitals and improve services in government hospitals.
An expert committee headed by retired High Court Chief Justice Vikramjit Sen has been constituted to study the functioning of private hospitals and suggest measures to regulate them to protect the interest of the general public. The committee has been asked to submit its report in eight weeks.
The minister also assured that post-graduate degree and diploma courses will be started in all government medical colleges by the next academic year. Rural candidates will get a higher share of seats in these courses.The government proposes to develop Lady Goshen government hospital in Mangaluru. The hospital would be upgraded into 500 bedded hospital as against the present 270 beds. He said the state government is committed to developing all the government hospitals right from the PHCs. He also added Udupi hospital is upgraded for the district government hospital and named after philanthropist Haji Abdullah.
Ivan D’Souza, chief whip legislative assembly, Pratap Chandra Shetty MLC, Gopal Poojary MLA Byndoor, Meenakshi Madhava Bannaje president CMC, Dr BR Shetty and Dr C R Shetty, Dr Shalini Rajaneesh chief secretary of State Health and family welfare and others were present.
