Daijiworld Media Network—Udupi (RD/CN)
Udupi, Feb 10: “Chief minister B S Yeddyurappa has been urged to allot Rs 1,438 crore including an additional Rs 358 crore for the health department”, said state health minister Sriramulu.
He was speaking after reviewing the development work of the District Government Hospital, Ajjarakad, on Wednesday February 10.
“The CM has approved the proposal to extend Vajpayee Arogyashree Yojana all over the state and this will be undertaken at a cost of Rs 300 crore. Most of the demands of doctors serving in state-run hospitals have been already met. The ban on contract-based appointments, protection against attacks, and a hike in pay of Rs 10,000 for surgeons were granted despite the strain on the state exchequer”, he added.
“The association of medical officers has been urging the state administration to waive the compulsory service of six years in rural Public Health Centers (PHCs), which cannot be done under any circumstances. What would be the fate of rural residents, if the state medicos choose only to work in PHCs in cities and metros?” queried Sriramulu.
He advised the medical officers to withdraw their mass resignations at the earliest.
“The proposal to allot one ‘104’ designated mobile mini hospital facility each to serve a population of 50,000 or 1,00,000 is under active consideration of the state administration. A decision in this regard will be taken at the legislative meeting shortly, with a view to implementing the project statewide”, announced the minister.
“The medicos serving in rural areas are paid a dearness allowance of Rs 7,000 and for surgeons it is Rs 10,000. Meanwhile, efforts are being made to bring equality in pay scales of medicos serving in rural and urban areas besides that of lecturers serving in medical colleges. In order to elevate the shortage of medicos, a total of 1,377 appointments have already been made. A proposal has been presented to the CM with a demand to appoint 2,000 more medicos”, he said.
Sriramulu said that provisions will be made in the forthcoming budget to upgrade the District Government Hospital here with 250 beds.
MLA K Raghupati Bhat, Dr Dayanand Nayak, MLC Kota Srinivas Poojary, and K Udaykumar Shetty were present on the occasion.