Bengaluru: As many as 30,000 poor senior citizens will get free dentures as part of the “Danta Bhagya” scheme formally launched by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in Bengaluru on Saturday.
Nagarathna, 70, of Bengaluru became the first beneficiary under the scheme with Siddaramaiah giving her a set of dentures at the launch event held at Vidhana Soudha. In private hospitals, a set of dentures would cost anywhere between Rs 8,000 and 20,000. The government is going to reimburse the cost to private hospitals that provide free dentures.
Siddaramaiah said as many as 45 private and government dental colleges across the State have been roped in to implement the scheme.
Accredited social health activists (ASHA) workers have been entrusted with the responsibility of identifying the beneficiaries and linking them to the colleges for dental care. The workers would be paid an incentive Rs 100 for enrolling each beneficiary, Siddaramaiah said.
Dr Ganesh Shenoy Panchmal, chairman of the State government-constituted Oral Health Policy Committee stressed the need for inculcating oral health awareness among children. He said survey on the oral health scene in the State could also be under taken.
The State government also formally launched its programme of setting up dialysis centres at the taluk level. In the first phase, 30 dialysis centres (in one taluk in each of the 30 districts) will be opened within the next one month. Thirty more dialysis centres will be set up next year, he said.
