Mangalore : UT Khader health minister addressed a press conference in circuit house on Kadri Hills on Saturday (Nov 16, 2013) morning to explain the features of a new scheme of providing ‘Ayush Pushti’ biscuits to children of less than 5 years of age to safe guard their health at a crucial stage.

These biscuits are given to Aanganvadi officials and doctors to feed the children’s in their places of work.

The biscuit has been evolved from several medicinal plants and herbs to up keep the health of children playing in Aanganavadis all over the state. But on a pilot basis at this juncture, the biscuits will be allotted to children of Bagalkot and Jamkhandi Taluks in Bagalkot districts, were an experiment will be made on children by 200 Aagnavadi teachers and 150 doctors are monitoring the beneficial effects of this biscuits on children’s health. Every 15 days a report will go to the health department from all Aangavadis in order to calculate and tabulate the benefits derived from the feeding and to find out the nutritional value the minister said.

In reply to a question the minister informed that the former Vajpayee Arogyashree health-care cards will be continued as the ‘Rajeev Arogya Shree Scheme’ under the new government for the APL families who will pay ten percent of the coast of health care and the balance will be borne by the health department. The scheme will be qualitative he assured, and it will run in certain Specialty hospitals in the state.

An amount of Rs. 80 cores in addition to 200 cores originally provided will go in to the health care scheme. Health care scheme which will be extended to Govt. Employees, migrant workers and accident cases UT Khader informed.

About the four- laning of Mani Ullal stretch the minister said the work will be taken up in three months.