BENGALURU: Two premier institutes of Bengaluru will play a key role in the rollout of the national tele-mental health programme announced in the Union Budget on Tuesday.
Though there were no big-ticket infrastructure projects announced for Karnataka set to go into assembly elections next year, CM Basavaraj Bommai said the combined measures will help spur job growth and achieve sustainable development.
With Covid-19 triggering an exponential rise of mental health issues among the vulnerable population, the budget announced the tele-mental health programme that will operate under a network of 23 mental health centres of excellence with Bengaluru’s Nimhans as a nodal centre and the Indian Institute of Information Technology, Bengaluru, providing technology support.
With a 35% increase in capital expenditure, CM Bommai said the state is expected to get an additional capital outlay of Rs 3,500 crore from the Centre in 2022-23. “This is a forward-looking, post-Covid budget. This will help us boost the economic growth and invite private investments,” he added.
The Centre’s move to allocate Rs 1 lakh crore to assist the states in catalysing overall investment in the economy for 2022-23 has had mixed reviews since many felt it will not benefit the state because of the conditions tied to availing the 50-year interest-free loan.
On the planned linking of Cauvery and Pennar rivers, Bommai said the state government would not approve it in the current form without ensuring the state gets its due share of water.
