20 special flights from Saudi to India announced; 3 and a half to Bengaluru; Sorry Mangaluru

Bengaluru, May 30: The Karnataka government will soon launch a project to maintain the health database of all its citizens, said Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar on Friday.

A first of its kind initiative, the "State Health Register" will be a robust and standardised health repository of all the citizens, as per an official release.

Sudhakar said that the project will be implemented first in Chikkaballapur district on an experimental basis. "Enhanced focus on healthcare has become imperative and our government is committed to providing world-class healthcare to all citizens," he added.

While speaking to media, the minister said that COVID-19 experience has demonstrated the necessity of having robust, real-time public health data and, therefore, there is a need to maintain a repository of health data of each and every citizen.

He said that the government will be undertaking a survey of all 6.5 crore people in the state, by using a team of Primary Health Centre officials, revenue officials, education department staff and ASHA karyakartas.

"They will visit each household and collect health data of all the members of the family. This will not only help the government to provide better healthcare but will also help efficient resource allocation, management and better implementation of various citizen-centric schemes in the state," Sudhakar stated.

"Public-Private Partnership -- It's our vision to provide world-class healthcare to all citizens in the state and we need accurate data to make our vision a reality. The health register is a futuristic project which is taken up in the interest of the people. The project will include 50 per cent partnership of private hospitals. The data collected will help us to prioritise healthcare based on geography, demography and other targetted measures," read the release.

Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa has assured all support for the project and a detailed discussion will be undertaken in the upcoming cabinet meeting, said Dr Sudhakar.

The minister also assured that he is committed to ensuring that all citizens of the state have access to world-class healthcare.

Bengaluru, Jul 3: Over 35 acres of land in nine villages on the outskirts of Bengaluru have been earmarked for burial and cremation of bodies of COVID-19 victims after concerns were raised over the safety of funerals being held in burial grounds located in residential areas.

Deputy Commissioner of Bengaluru Urban District GN Shivamurthy issued an order setting apart about 35.5 acres in the villages under four Taluks of Bengaluru North, Bengaluru South, Anekal and Yelahanka.

The order directed the respective Tahsildars to register these chunks of land as reserved for burial grounds and not to use for any purpose.

According to the sources in the district administration, Karnataka Health Minister B Sriramulu and Revenue Minister R Ashoka had directed the officials to identify places on the city outskirts to dispose of the bodies of COVID-19 victims.

Mr Sriramulu had on Wednesday said COVID-19 victims will not be laid to rest in burial grounds in the city and separate places will be earmarked on the outskirts in the backdrop of safety concerns raised by public.

He had also warned against unscientific disposal of used Personal Protection Equipment kits worn by the families of the victim for the final rites, referring to reports about such instances.

In some places, people have also expressed concern over bodies of those who died of the coronavirus being buried in their neighbourhood.

Mangaluru / Dammam, July 14: As many as 180 NRIs from Karnataka who were stranded in Saudi Arabia amid Covid 19 crisis today reached their home country by a flight charted by a Jubail based company KMT.

The Indigo flight carrying 174 adult passengers and 6 infants took off from King Fahad Airport, Dammam at 6:30 a.m. and landed at Mangaluru International Airport at 1:30 p.m.

Pregnant women, people with serious ailments and those who lost jobs are among the passengers. KMT has provided free ticket for some of the passengers who were in dire need of support.

KMT is a company which is head quartered in Jubail, Saudi Arabia was formed by natives of Addoor, Dakshin Kannada -  Shoukath, Abdul Razaq, Siddique and Abdul Rahman.

The CEO of KMT, Mr. Abdul Razaq has thanked Dr. Arathi Krishna, former president of KNRI Forum for her support to KMT in chartering flight.

He has also has expressed his gratitude to D.K district administration, director of SACO  company Mr. Althaf Ullal and KMT operation Manager Mr. Sadiq Ahmed and his team for their cooperation.