Karnataka to deploy triple specialists across govt health facilities to boost maternal, child care
Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka government on Friday said it has initiated a rationalisation process to strengthen Maternal and Child Health (MCH) services and reduce maternal and neonatal mortality rates by deploying triple specialists—obstetricians, anaesthetists, and paediatricians—across government health facilities.
According to a statement from the health department, all taluk hospitals will be developed as Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (CEMONC) centres, and 41 Community Health Centres (CHCs) with an average monthly delivery load of 30 or more will retain triple specialists.
Specialists from about 230 underperforming CHCs will be redeployed to taluk hospitals, while remote CHCs such as Male Mahadeshwara Hills, Santhemarahalli, Talakadu, and Bannur will continue to be staffed with specialists.
To offset redeployments, underperforming CHCs will be strengthened with additional medical officers, senior medical officers, dentists, and staff nurses. The plan also includes adding specialists for every 100 extra delivery cases, the statement added.
Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao called the move a “historic decision” taken by the cabinet on Thursday to enhance maternal services in taluk hospitals and key healthcare facilities across the state.
“Currently, taluk hospitals operate with one gynaecologist, one paediatrician, and one anaesthetist. Now, all 148 taluk hospitals and 41 CHCs—a total of 189 hospitals—will have a double triad: two gynaecologists, two paediatricians, two anaesthetists, and one radiologist, operating round-the-clock, supported by three additional staff nurses,” Rao told reporters here.
He emphasised that emergencies involving pregnancy or maternal and child health must be addressed 24/7 in taluk hospitals.
“All taluk hospitals, 41 CHCs, and district hospitals will provide continuous MCH services to the people of Karnataka,” he said.
The department noted that only 31 of 148 taluk hospitals currently record more than 100 deliveries a month, with many facilities facing specialist shortages. Of 274 CHCs, only 114 have obstetricians, and 11 taluk hospitals operate without one.
To address these gaps, the government plans to create 114 radiologist posts, redeploy staff nurses from underperforming 24x7 primary health centres, and assign three additional nurses to each CEMONC hospital. Counselling and awareness programmes on delivery options, nutrition, immunisation, and family welfare for pregnant women will also be introduced.
The government aims to transform all taluk hospitals into comprehensive CEMONC centres, ensure reliable healthcare services, and significantly reduce maternal and child mortality while minimising emergency referrals, the statement further said.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
BJP has history of ‘contradictory alliances’, says BK Hariprasad
Bengaluru: Congress MLC B. K. Hariprasad has launched a sharp attack on the BJP, accusing the party of hypocrisy over its criticism of alliance politics in Tamil Nadu.
In a post on X on Friday, Hariprasad said BJP leader B. L. Santhosh criticising the Congress party’s alliance politics in Tamil Nadu was “not just laughable, but the height of political contradiction.”
He said the Congress has always joined hands with like-minded parties to protect secular and democratic values in the country.
Hariprasad questioned the BJP over several of its past and present alliances across the country. Referring to Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Tripura, Bihar and Maharashtra, he accused the BJP of sharing power with parties it had earlier criticised.
He alleged that the BJP had aligned with separatist and corruption-linked political forces in different states for political gains.
“The BJP, which speaks against alliances today, should first look at its own political history,” he said, adding that the party’s record was full of “contradictions and changing stands.”
Hariprasad also accused the BJP of using central agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate, Income Tax Department and CBI as political tools to target opposition leaders, topple governments and influence electoral mandates.
He further claimed that the people of Tamil Nadu had strongly rejected the BJP and its ideology in the recent election.
“Congress forms alliances to protect the Constitution, secularism and national unity, while the BJP enters into alliances only for power,” he said.
