Bommai pushes for better resources, more NIMHANS regional centres
The Hindu
He was speaking at the Institute’s 25th Convocation
Highlighting the need to make mental healthcare accessible to all, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai appealed to the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) to expand their footprint in the State through regional centres. He said the state government would support the initiative in all ways. He was addressing the 25th Convocation of NIMHANS in the city on Sunday.
Earlier at the event, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Mansukh L. Mandaviya, who is also president, NIMHANS, spoke about how resources at the premiere health institute are stretched thin. “During my morning walk on the premises on Sunday, I spoke to a few people at the X-ray centre. One of them told me he had to wait for five days to get an X-ray. You, the students passing out, must question why this man and his attendant who have travelled all the way from their village forgoing their wages, can’t get an X-ray on the same day,” he said.
Responding to the issue flagged by the Union Health Minister, Mr. Bommai recounted how he could not secure a ventilator for a critically ill patient at NIMHANS recently and announced that the Karnataka Government would donate 100 ventilators in two phases. “People from all across south India come to NIMHANS and hence the resources here are limited. Why should a person wait for five days to get an X-ray? I request the director to requisition adequate X-ray machines to ensure everyone gets their X-ray reports on the same day. I also request NIMHANS to expand its footprint in the state and open regional centres, like Jayadeva and Kidwai hospitals,” he said.
With the clock ticking down to the Lok Sabha election counting day on Tuesday, opposing fronts are perceptibly edgy and poised to continue the rancorous skirmishing that marked the campaign season in Kerala. The United Democratic Front, led by the Congress, is seemingly basking in the “interim victory” granted by various exit polls. The UDF discerns that its poll strategy of turning the polls foremostly into a damning referendum on the Left Democratic Front government’s perceived failures rather than BJP’s “divisive politics” at the national level stood a fighting chance of paying off.