No stock of 190 essential medicines in Karnataka govt hospitals: Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao

The minister went on to assure that all the medicines would be supplied to hospitals by the first week of April, with tenders already issued for this purpose. Rao added that the department would abide by its obligation to ensure the provision of medicines to patients, while expressing concerns over the lack of transparency in the current local procurement practices adopted by hospitals.

Acknowledging the dismal state of the Karnataka State Medical Supplies Corporation Ltd (KSMSCL), which is responsible for the distribution of medicines to hospitals, the minister pledged to address the situation. Efforts are underway to establish a robust procurement system, with plans to invite tenders every two years.

Dinesh Gundu Rao also disclosed that the consultancy firm KPMG has been engaged to propose strategies for enhancing the corporation’s operations, with a preliminary report already submitted. Additionally, collaboration with the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) aims to implement a maintenance management system to track equipment functionality within hospitals.

“People come to government hospitals to get all medicines free of cost. We should not even have Prime Minister Jan Aushadhi Kendras in our hospitals. There is an increase in pharmacies near the hospitals which shows the failure of the government,” he said.