Heart screenings for children made mandatory in Karnataka schools: Health Minister
Bengaluru: Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao on Monday announced that the government will soon classify certain ailments responsible for sudden deaths as ‘notifiable diseases’, while also introducing mandatory heart screenings for children below the age of 15 at the school level.
Speaking to the media at Vidhana Soudha after receiving a report from a committee headed by Dr. Ravindranath, Director of Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences, the minister said the new initiatives aim to detect heart conditions in children early and prevent fatalities.
“As part of this initiative, heart check-ups will be made compulsory for students under 15. This will help identify cardiac conditions at an early stage and provide timely medical intervention,” Rao said.
To spread awareness about heart attacks and non-communicable diseases (NCDs), related content will be included in school textbooks from the next academic year, the minister added. Until then, awareness will be raised through moral education lessons.
Highlighting the increasing number of sudden deaths occurring outside hospitals, Rao said post-mortem examinations will be made compulsory in such cases to determine the exact cause of death. He also announced that Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) will be installed in public spaces like railway stations and bus terminals to provide immediate response in cardiac emergencies.
The state also plans to implement mandatory annual health check-ups for government employees and contractual workers, the minister said. Similar requirements will be extended to employees of private companies, he added.
“All recommendations made by the expert committee will be discussed with the Chief Minister before taking final decisions,” Rao stated.
Expansion of 'Puneeth Rajkumar Vijayajyoti' Scheme
In another major announcement, the minister confirmed that the Puneeth Rajkumar Vijayajyoti Scheme, which is currently operational in 86 hospitals across the state, will be extended to include taluk-level hospitals. The scheme aims to support timely diagnosis and treatment of critical illnesses.
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Sabarimala gold issue: UDF alleges CM's office interference, disrupts Assembly
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Alleging interference by the Chief Minister’s office in the SIT probe into the Sabarimala gold loss cases, the Congress-led UDF opposition disrupted Assembly proceedings on Tuesday, declaring that it would no longer cooperate with the House.
Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, V D Satheesan, informed Speaker A N Shamseer about the UDF's decision as the House proceedings commenced.
As the opposition protest continued in the House amidst the question hour, Congress MLA Anwar Sadath suddenly attempted to climb onto the Speaker's dais, leading to Shamseer stopping the assembly for around half-an-hour and leaving for his chambers.
Subsequently, when he returned at around 10 am, state Law Minister P Rajeev submitted in the House that the opposition was trying to subvert a proper probe into the Sabarimala gold case.
As the minister began speaking, the opposition started shouting and re-started its protest.
Rajeev alleged that it was the opposition which brought prime accused Unnikrishnan Potty into the picture to subvert the Global Ayyappa Sangam organised by the government.
"It is the opposition which knows who stole the gold from the shrine," he contended.
Dramatic scenes were witnessed in the House, after Shamseer said it was not right that some UDF MLAs tried to climb onto the Speaker's dais, as Sadath again tried to do the same and was pushed back by the watch-and-ward personnel of the assembly.
Subsequently, the watch-and-ward staff also forcibly pulled away the banner held up by the opposition MLAs in front of the dais.
Following the action by the watch-and-ward staff, more UDF MLAs tried to climb onto the dais, forcing the Speaker to again briefly adjourn the House as the ruling front legislators laughed at the actions of the opposition.
At 9 am when the House began, Satheesan alleged that the probe by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) was not going anywhere and conditions were being created for more of the arrested accused in the two Sabarimala gold loss cases to come out on statutory bail.
He said that soon prime accused Unnikrishnan Potty and three CPI(M) leaders, also arrested in the case, would be out on statutory bail.
"All this is happening due to the pressure and interference from the Chief Minister's Office. So, we would like to inform you (Speaker) that we are intensifying our protest by bringing it into the House and we are not going to cooperate with the assembly proceedings," the opposition leader said.
Opposition MLAs trooped into the well of the House and held up placards -- some of which claimed CPI(M) was protecting those accused in the two cases and that the Left party leaders stole Lord Ayyappa's gold -- in front of the Speaker's dais, shouting slogans against the government.
The question hour of the House, subsequently, proceeded amidst the opposition protest.
Responding to the opposition protest, state Health Minister Veena George said that not cooperating with the House proceedings shows the irresponsibility of the UDF.
The opposition intensified its protest a day after a vigilance court on Monday granted statutory bail to former Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) executive officer D Sudheesh Kumar in two cases related to the loss of gold from the Sabarimala temple.
Former TDB administrative officers B Murari Babu and S Sreekumar are already out on statutory bail in the matter.
Sreekumar has not been made an accused in the second case involving the loss of gold from the doorframes of Sreekovil.
Potty has got statutory bail in one of the cases and once he gets the same relief in the other, he too will come out of jail.
The cases relate to the alleged loss of gold from the Dwarapalaka (guardian deity) idol plates and from the gold cladding on the door frames of the Sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum).
The SIT has made 12 arrests in the matter till date.
