Mangaluru: Health and Family Welfare minister U T Khader launched the “Bike Ambulance” service in the City here on May 5.
Addressing the mediapersons, Khader said that there will be two bike ambulances in the city. One will operate under the Mangaluru City Corporation and the other will be deputed in Ullal. The bike ambulance will have a response time of 8 minutes and will register first aid to the injured. At present, there are 32 bike ambulances in the state, 20 of which are operational in Bengaluru. In Mangaluru, two bike ambulances have been launched on trial basis. If they are successful, more will be added, he said.
He also said that a separate modular OT department will be started for sports injury. “In Bengaluru, we have treated more than 100 cricketers and athletes in two years at such a facility.
A team of three doctors from Germany are in Mangaluru to study cases of Malaria. They will study the main cause of Malaria in Mangaluru, why there are more cases here and how to prevent it. They will prepare a thorough report on this, which will be submitted within 6 months. They will also mention the risk factor of Malaria.
Reiterating CM Siddaramaiah’s earlier statements, he said that the Gram Panchayat elections will be held as scheduled by the Election Commission. The government has no plans of postponing the elections. Certain amendments have been made to the Panchayat Raj Act: the tenure of the president’s office has been increased to 5 years from the earlier 2.5 years and is also applicable to the Taluk Panchayat; women and men will have 50:50 representation in the elections, if there are 10 aspirants, it will be shared equally; voting has been made compulsory for the Panchayat elections.
He also said that Shobha Karnadlaje needs to highlight the issues with the central government on the Kasturirangan report rather than passing the buck to the state government as the report was submitted to the center. “She is misleading the people and creating confusion by her statements.”
Speaking about the Endosulfan victims, Khader said that when BJP was in power, there was no scheme for Endosulfan victims. “Neither was there a compensation nor were they getting any pension. After the Congress came to power, we have surveyed the victims and are paying them pension on time.”
Mayor Jacintha Alfred, deputy Mayor Purushotham, Prof Frank Mockennaupt, Prabhanjan Gai, Konrad Siegeil, District surgeon Dr Rajeshwari and others were also present.