Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore (SP)
Mangalore, Jul 29: Dakshina Kannada zilla panchayat(ZP) chief executive officer A M Kunjappa has informed that a blood storage facility will soon be set up at Lady Goschen Hospital in the city. This facility is being set up with assistance from Red Cross Society of India for the benefit of economically backward sections of society. These people need not, as in the past, go hunting for blood in case of emergencies, once the unit is installed, he added. He was addressing the 13th general session of the ZP.
He gave this information after various zilla panchayat members like Chandrashekar Kamat and ex-ZP president Sushma Janardhan drew attention of the administration towards poor medical facilities available at various hospitals and also blood shortage particularly of the rare blood groups. This situation has been forcing patients and expecting mothers to get admitted to private hospitals by shelling out exorbitant costs, they had complained.
District health officer H Jagannath said that the government's 'Madilu' and 'Janani Suraksha Yojane' are aimed at helping expectant women. Under the Janani Suraksha Yojane, pregnant women who deliver at government hospitals are paid Rs 1,500 for caesarean section, Rs 1,000 for normal delivery and Rs 500 for residential delivery by a midwife, he explained.
Facilities at Puttur, Sullia, Mulki, Bantwal, Vamadapadav, Moodbidri, Vittal and Beltangady community health centres are being improved to take complete care of expectant women, he said. They will be provided with anaesthetist, paediatrician and gynaecologist. A few of these hospitals have been provided with free ambulance services to take patients in case of emergencies to the district Wenlock Hospital, he stated.
ZP president K P Sucharita Shetty, while giving his nod to continuing to supply 10 kgs of rice to chikungunya affected families till September, approved a resolution urging the government to come up with a financial package for the chikungunya affected people. He however, expressed concern about the acute shortage of staff the key departments in the ZP are facing, denting their efficacy in properly implementing government programmes. The ZP has already approached various ministries to address this problem, he explained.
It was also decided to set up a committee to probe allegations of misappropriation of funds meant to benefit Koraga community, as alleged in some newspaper reports. The committee headed by vice-president Jayashree Kodandur and several members, has been asked to submit a detailed report within 15 days, Shetty said. Integrated Tribal Development Project coordination officer Satyanarayana clarified that the project mentioned in newspaper papers was not exclusively meant for the benefit of Koraga community as claimed therein and includes other tribes too.