Mangaluru: With the govt sanctioning funds, 143 Ayushman Arogya Kendras (AAK) in the Dakshina Kannada district will have their own buildings. Each unit will be developed at an estimated cost of Rs 65 lakh, where people will receive basic community medicine support.Officials said that work on one unit was completed, and 15 are in progress. The tender process has begun to construct buildings for the remaining 125 AAKs in the district.DHO Dr Thimmaiah HR told TOI that the construction of an AAK at Thenkamijar in Bantwal taluk was completed. Out of 143 AAKs sanctioned to the district, funds were sanctioned for 125 centres under the Pradhan Mantri-Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM). Meanwhile, 15 will be taken up through the 15th Finance Commission grants. Due to disputes pertaining to the land allotted for the centres, the work could not be started at two places, he said.“Those facilities that functioned as health sub-centres were renamed as Health and Wellness Centres. Later, they were renamed again as Ayushman Arogya Mandir, and currently it is called AAKs, where emphasis is given to preventive, promotive, curative, rehabilitative and palliative care. The centres offer basic medicines and other community medicine services through Auxiliary nurse midwife (ANM) and community health officers,” he said, adding that efforts are on to complete the work on all the 143 AAKs in the district.While Dakshina Kannada district has 355 AAKs, 195 have no buildings of their own. A large number of AAKs in Mangaluru taluk have no buildings. Of the 106 AAKs in Mangaluru taluk, 65 centres have no buildings. While Bantwal taluk has 73 AAKs, 43 have no buildings. In Puttur, 29 out of 63 AAKs have no buildings. In Sullia, 29 out of 52 AAKs function without their own building. Similarly, out of 61 AAKs in Belthangady taluk, 29 centres are yet to be provided with their own buildings. The district has 64 public health centres and eight community health centres, the DHO said.
