Speaker angry with me out of affection: Khader

Bangalore, Oct 25: Health and Family Welfare Minister U T Khader, who was pulled up by Legislative Assembly Speaker Kagodu Thimmappa over the shortage of government doctors, defended himself on Friday, saying, œthe Speaker has only given him some suggestions out of affection.

Speaking to reporters, Khader denied being pulled up and claimed to be happy about the department taking steps to solve problems such as non-availability of doctors and drugs in government hospitals. He also listed out measures taken to ensure effective healthcare services to people.

Kagodu had on Thursday summoned Khader and his department officials and took them to task for not responding to problems, especially non-availability of doctors.

The Speaker had also written a letter to the minister in this regard, besides holding a meeting with him.

Khader said the department had decided to recruit 983 specialist doctors, 331 MBBS doctors, 87 dental doctors, 1,228 nurses and 318 drivers.

Revised salary

The Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) has been asked to recruit the doctors and the department has even proposed an increase in the monthly salary of doctors.

Salary revision is proposed in the range of Rs 70,224 (general duty medical officer) to Rs 1,03,011 (senior specialist). But the proposal is yet to be cleared by the Finance department, he added. Further, the department has decided to supply drugs to hospitals based on demand. Expenditure on drugs per person has been hiked to Rs 270 from Rs 142.

This apart, a 24/7 pharmacy will be opened at all district- and taluk-level hospitals. œThe Speaker did not summon me. I went to him on my own and apprised him of all these measures. Moreover, the Speaker and the chief minister have every right to be angry with me. They do it out of affection, he stated.

Comments

Add new comment

Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.

Heading to Karavali Utsava? Check traffic changes and parking rules in Mangaluru

News Network

December 20,2025

Mangaluru, Dec 20: The Mangaluru City Police have issued a detailed traffic advisory ahead of the inaugural ceremony of Karavali Utsava, which will be held at the Karavali Utsava Ground on Saturday.

The festival will be inaugurated at 6:00 pm by Dakshina Kannada District Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao. Cultural and public programmes will be held at the venue every evening and will continue until January 2.

According to City Police Commissioner Sudheer Kumar Reddy, parking of vehicles is strictly prohibited on both sides of the road from Lalbagh to Karavali Utsava Ground. Visitors are requested to park their vehicles only at designated parking areas.

To help the public, traffic signboards and parking guidance flex boards have been installed along the routes leading to the venue. The police have urged commuters and visitors to follow these instructions to ensure smooth traffic movement.

Designated Parking Locations

•   Urwa Market Ground – Cars
•   Gandhinagar Government School (near Press Club) – Two-wheelers and cars
•   Ladyhill Church parking area – Two-wheelers and cars
•   Canara School Ground, Mannagudda – Two-wheelers and cars
•   Thimmappa Hotel premises – Two-wheelers and cars
•   Scout and Guide Bhavana premises (behind Karavali Utsava Grounds) – Two-wheelers
•   Urwa Market Road – Two-wheelers
•   Hat Hill Road – Two-wheelers

The police have appealed to the public to cooperate by following traffic rules and parking guidelines to avoid inconvenience during the festival.

Comments