Maternity care in State-run hospitals has gone haywire in the last few months with the Health Department putting on hold the distribution of Madilu kits — meant for nursing mothers — and Thayi cards issued to expecting mothers at the time of the first antenatal care registration.
Launched in 2007, the Madilu kits are given to mothers from BPL families soon after the delivery in a government hospital. Each kit comprises 15 items, including a mosquito net, carpet, bedsheet and blanket.
The Thayi card with a unique number is the base of the Mother and Child Tracking System (MCTS) that was launched in January 2011. It is aimed at tracking the health of pregnant women and children till they complete their immunisation regimen.
While sources said that distribution was stopped after it was noticed that over half of the 15 lakh cards printed annually had the same number, Health Director H.C. Ramesh said he suspected bogus billing by the officials and the firm involved in the printing. “Although 75 lakh cards were printed in the last five years, hardly 30 lakh cards have been used. We do not know what happened to the remaining cards,” he said.
“We have re-invited tenders and orders to print new cards will be issued soon.”
On Madilu kits, he said the Karnataka Handloom Development Corporation (KHDC) that was supplying the kits so far was charging Rs. 400 extra for every kit. “We require four lakh kits annually and will end up spending Rs. 18 crore more than the allocated budget,” he said.
The Chief Minister recently directed the KHDC officials to fix the price of each kit at Rs. 1,000. “We have forwarded the new proposal to the Finance Department,” he added.
