K'taka Health Minister meets Harsh Vardhan, urges Centre to increase supply of COVID vaccines

New Delhi [India], July 7 (ANI): Karnataka Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar met Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan here on Tuesday and urged him to supply more COVID-19 vaccine doses to the state.
During his meeting with Dr Harsh Vardhan, Sudhakar also appealed to further increase the supply of 1.5 crore vaccines per month to meet the growing demand in the state which will help planning and micro management.
He further requested to grant approval and funds for establishing regional centres of Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology in other parts of the state. He also sought the expediting the release of funds for new medical colleges being established under Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) and also support for setting up Allied Sciences Institute in the state.
Seeking financial assistance for upgrading 250 PHCs per year under NHM as the state government is upgrading 250 PHCs, the minister said this would be a model project for other states to follow.
Sudhakar, who is on a three-day visit to New Delhi, also met Union Minister for Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, and Union Railways, Commerce and Industries Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday.
As Sudhakar is also the in-charge minister of Chikkaballapur district in the Old Mysore region of Karnataka, he requested Jal Shakti Minister to accord national project status to the Yettinahole project, a mega drinking water project which aims to provide drinking water to more than 1.25 crore people to build lives in Chiklaballapur, Kolar, Bengaluru Rural, Tumakuru and other drought-prone districts in the southern Karnataka.
Given its close proximity to Bengaluru International Airport and National Highway, he sought the support of Piyush Goyal to develop Chikkaballapura as an industrial hub.
He also requested Railway Minister to extend Bengaluru Suburban Rail and Metro to Chikkaballapura which is about 60 kilometres from Bengaluru.
He also met Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari and requested an expedition of various ongoing works in NH 234 and four laning of road connecting NH7 and Nandi Hills, a popular tourist spot near Bengaluru. (ANI)