The Karnataka government has announced a Rs.200 crore expansion plan to upgrade its four hospitals: Victoria, Minto Ophthalmology Institute, Lady Curzon & Bowring and Vani Vilas. In addition, it will also modernize the Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMC&RI).


The hospital improvement plans are scheduled for completion by March 2012, stated Karnataka minister for medical education SA Ramdas.


The key constituents of upgrade would cover infrastructure where more buildings would come into the existing campuses of these hospitals. There would also be a comprehensive pharmacy at the Victoria Hospital which would cater to the medicines’ requirements of patients at the Minto, Vani Vila and Victoria Hospital. A food court and sewage treatment plant are also part of the new efforts, he said.


Out of the Rs.200 crore, Rs.13 crore would be used to set up a 200-bed paediatric hospital. The Public Works Department would also upgrade the roads within the Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute at a cost of Rs.1. 5 crore. With Victoria, Minto and Vani Vilas located in close proximity to each other and in the vicinity of the Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute, a skywalk connecting these centres would help the relatives of patients to access the facilities easily.


Commenting on the paucity of doctors at these government hospitals, Minister Ramdas said that every effort would be made to fill up the vacancies. The Governing Council had also taken a decision to refrain from inter hospital transfers of all staff covering from doctors to paramedics. Even the pending promotions would be granted based on the seniority, he added.


The government hospitals had been working to set up the effluent treatment plants based on a report from the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board and in this regard, the state government had taken a decision to upgrade the existing effluent treatment plants into a sewage treatment plant following the instructions of Lok Adalat that mandated treated water could not be used at the hospitals in the absence of a dedicated pipelines for the same. “So we have looked into the issue and taken a decision to have a 3.2 kilometre network pipeline", Ramdas said.