Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, who also holds the Bengaluru Development potfolio, said the State government will soon institute an autonomous health system for the city. “Presently, health infrastructure and responsibilities have been spread out among multiple agencies creating confusion. All health services will be brought under one system,” he said.
He was speaking at Govindaraj Nagar after inaugurating a slew of development works, worth ₹89.5 crore, including five school works, two hospitals, one primary health centre, and three playgrounds/parks on Sunday.
“The recent pandemic has exposed us to gaps in the health infrastructure in the city. Several assembly constituencies have added ICU beds and other facilities, which we will continue. We will ensure all wards have a PHC soon. Public health infrastructure will be augmented under the aegis of the new health authority,” he said, indicating that the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) will be stripped of its public health function to be given to a parastatal.
The move, first announced during the peak of the second wave of the pandemic, has faced stiff opposition from several quarters. Notably, Housing Minister V. Somanna, MLA of Govindraj Nagar, in his speech at the event on Sunday, also appealed to the Chief Minister to augment PHCs and government school infrastructure in the city, under the aegis of BBMP.
“It is thanks to the PHC network that the city fought the pandemic. I would request the CM to add all PHCs and government schools in the city to the civic body,” he said.
Mr. Bommai said he had a vision for the city and was working towards realising it. The government will soon come out with concrete programmes. “The city has grown, but mostly in an unplanned way. We need to ensure planned development of the city, which is the challenge before us. For this we need to have a long term vision of 30-50 years and start working towards that from today,” he said. “We need to leverage technology to ensure the ease of living for the citizens. I am working on a programme that will bring all citizen services in the city to to our mobile phones. In an Information Technology city like ours, we should be able to do this,” he said.
The CM also said he had discussed with Union Ministers and officials, during his recent Delhi trip, to clear all hurdles for regularisation of development in the city. “I have asked the Revenue Minister to chart out a programme to clear all confusions on land issues in the city. We will soon announce a scheme to give land documents to those who do not have them,” he said.
