Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi
Udupi, Jun 11: The Government Mother & Child hospital should continue to give the same exceptional service they have been providing the people of Udupi since its inception, said Pramod Madhwaraj.
Reacting to the allegations made by MLA Raghupathi Bhat, the Congress leader said, "When I was the MLA of Udupi, I had visited the government hospital in Ajjarkad following the complaints from the public. There was an incident where a pregnant had ended up giving birth on the floors of the dilapidated hospital building. I felt sorry for the state of the patients and made an effort to construct a building through NABARD at the cost of Rs 10 crore. There is no provision to utilize NABARD grants in the urban area, but they can be used in rural areas. The funds were then used to build the Brahmavar Community hospital in the rural area."
"During my term, I had also sent an appeal to the government for upgrading the district hospital in Ajjarkad and the Government Mother & Child hospital," he added.
"Dr BR Shetty came forward with this project of building a 200-bed hospital to exclusively treat pregnant women and children. I had then suggested that the hospital be named after the donor of the land, Haji Abdullah. My primary intention was that the people of Udupi get quality healthcare at an affordable price," the Congress leader said.
"According to the MoU between the government and Dr B R Shetty, the latter agreed to construct a hospital which would provide free service to pregnant women, along with those seeking post-natal services and the infant babies. Dr Shetty then requested the government to bear the maintenance cost of the hospital and promised to build a 400-bed multispecialty hospital on another land on a contract basis. It is a matter of pride that the Government Mother & Child hospital has delivered more than 10,000 babies and has treated more than 1,50,000 outpatients free of cost," he stated.
"I had always wanted for Udupi district to have a hospital constructed under the PPP model. Dr B R Shetty had even promised to hand over the hospital to the government. I wish that the hospital continues to provide the standard of service they are known for and grow efficient with time. Let the government provide job security to physicians, nurses, lab technicians, technical staff, other staffs etc., and ensure that they are happy to be employed in this line of work," the former MLA said.