Aiming at revamping primary healthcare services in Bengaluru city, the State Health and Family Welfare Department is all set to take over Urban Primary Health Centres (UPHCs) and Community Health Centres (CHCs) currently under the BBMP’s control.
Following this, the financial and administrative control that BBMP had over these health centres will now be moved to the Health Department.
According to an Order issued by the State Government on Friday, a total of 51 health centres will be taken over by the Health Department. These include 35 UPHCs listed under National Urban Health Mission (NUHM), 14 unlisted UPHCs and 2 Community Health Centres (CHCs). The staff recruited by BBMP and equipment procured by BBMP will also be transferred to the health department.
Health and Medical Education Minister K. Sudhakar said that the public healthcare services provided by the government should be similar and uniform across all facilities. “People should get quality healthcare services across the State - be it in UPHCs or CHCs; urban or rural areas. This move will help us integrate the health programs of the Union and State governments and ensure effective implementation. The decision will also enable better management of UPHCs and streamlining of administrative issues for better service delivery,” he said.
The decision to transfer the 51 BBMP UPHCs to the Health Department comes following a demand by the Karnataka Government Medical Officers’ Association (KGMOA). Former president of KGMOA G. Srinivas said all the staff in these centres are actually Health Department employees. “The centres were earlier with the department and were handed over to the BBMP for a year when the pandemic hit the State. These are only centres located in the new peripheral zones. The centres in the core areas will continue to be with the BBMP,,” he said.
Sources in the BBMP said the 51 centres going back to the department could result in lack of coordination. “The centres were handed over to the BBMP for better service delivery. With PHCs in core areas continuing to be with BBMP, it makes sense that the centres in outer zones are also with us. We will again appeal to the Health Department to hand the centres back to us,” a top official said.
