Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai announced several key provisions aimed at improving healthcare infrastructure and services in the budget on Friday, February 17. The budget marked the final one of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government's current term.
Among the announcements, the government proposed the construction of 250 'She toilets' at a cost of Rs 50 crore in heavily populated markets and commercial complexes in Bengaluru. In addition, the government pledged to upgrade existing community health centres to 100-bed hospitals in seven taluks.
The budget also included the allocation of Rs 100 crore for a new scheme to fight anaemia, the implementation of health camps twice a year under the Mane Manege Arogya Scheme, and the extension of the Karnataka Mental Health Programme to the entire state in collaboration with NIMHANS, with an allocation of Rs 25 crore.
Other healthcare-related initiatives included conducting screening camps to detect breast, oral, and cervical cancer, with an allocation of Rs 12 crore for the purchase of cancer detection equipment. The government also pledged to establish a hospital on the lines of AIIMS in Raichur and a super speciality hospital in Kumta, Uttara Kannada district, during the current year.
In addition, the budget provided for the establishment of a completely automatic and centralised blood bank management system at a cost of Rs 5 crore at the Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute. The government also allocated Rs 146 crore for the establishment of the first public hospital in the country dedicated to organ transplants at NIMHANS.