Mangaluru: Health Minister U.T. Khader announces measures to strengthen healthcare services
Mangalore Today News Network
Mangaluru, Aug. 7, 2026: Health Minister U.T. Khader urged people to give greater importance to maintaining their health and said the government was taking several measures to strengthen healthcare services across Karnataka.
Speaking at a press conference in Mangaluru, Khader said the Health Department primarily provides treatment to those who fall ill and has therefore introduced several schemes to improve healthcare delivery.
He said 200 MBBS doctors have joined the state health department over the past one-and-a-half months, while approval has also been given for the recruitment of another 3,500 healthcare personnel.
The minister said the government plans to strengthen ambulance services at the taluk and district levels. The proposal will be discussed with the department and implemented after obtaining approval from Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
Under the proposed system, ambulances should reach patients within 20 minutes in rural areas and 15 minutes in urban areas, he said.
The state is also planning to introduce 100 bike ambulances. In addition, 450 new ambulances will be added to the existing 108 emergency ambulance service, taking the total number of ambulances to 750, Khader said.
He added that companies responsible for operating the ambulance service would face penalties if ambulances failed to reach patients on time.
Khader said steps were also being taken to strengthen the Ayushman Karnataka scheme in private hospitals, noting that not all hospitals have super-speciality facilities. Discussions are also under way to consider extending the scheme to APL families in the future.
On healthcare benefits for retired government employees and officials, Khader said the government had formulated the Sandhya Kiran scheme. Under the proposal, beneficiaries would contribute 1.25% of their pension towards the scheme.
He said there was still a lack of clarity regarding the Centre’s Vay Vandana scheme. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah would write to the Prime Minister on the matter, while he would write to the Union Health Minister, Khader said, adding that the state government was ready to cooperate with the Centre in implementing the scheme.
The minister said the healthcare initiatives were being formulated keeping the health needs of the general public in mind. Private hospitals were also ready to cooperate, and changes were being made to the pricing structure under the schemes, he added.
Khader also said he had visited several disaster-affected areas of Dakshina Kannada following the Chief Minister’s direction. He had visited Belthangady, Bantwal, Sullia and Kadaba and reviewed the situation.
He acknowledged that there had been some confusion in the distribution of relief in certain areas and urged officials to work with both intelligence and compassion while handling relief measures.