Minister for Health and Family Welfare Arvind Limbavali on Monday pulled up the Health Department personnel for not being able to check mosquito breeding in Puttur and Beltangady.
Reviewing the department’s work in the district, Mr. Limbavali expressed shock that the Puttur taluk health department personnel had surveyed and launched control measures only in 10,299 of the 45,486 potential mosquito breeding places in the past three months.
The taluk health officer was not able to give reasons for the sluggish survey work. He was also not happy with the work taken up in Beltangady and Mangalore taluks, where 65,342 places have been surveyed as against 98,000.
District Health Officer O. Srirangappa highlighted the issue of shortage of doctors and Group ‘D’ employees in various government hospitals in the district. Only one doctor responded to the call for appointment of doctors on contract basis. The doctor, however, did not report to duty at a Primary Health Centre in Beltangady taluk, he said. When the Minister wanted to know the reasons for the doctor not reporting to duty, a health department official attributed it to lack of facilities at the place the doctor was to be posted.
An official said cases of leprosy were being noticed more among migrant labourers from North India, who were working at the Mangalore Port, Special Economic Zone and Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilizers. To this, Mr. Limbavali said measures need to be taken to screen such persons and send them back.
Deputy Speaker of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly N. Yogish Bhat raised the issue of availability of drugs in the district.
Mr. Limbavali was displeased over the absence of the official concerned in the meeting.
“Ours is a sensitive department. I cannot tolerate such indiscipline. Notice will be served against the officer,” he said.
Later Mr. Limbavali, Mr. Bhat and MLC Monappa Bhandary visited the Regional Advanced Paediatric Care Centre at the Government Wenlock Hospital.
