Connect with us

Headlines of The Day

Envision India as world’s go-to affordable healthcare destination

Hitting out at previous governments for not addressing the shortage of doctors in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said his government has taken several steps to address the issue since 2014.

Speaking at a virtual event to inaugurate 11 medical colleges in Tamil Nadu as well as a new building Central Institute of Classical Tamil, Prime Minister Modi said the Covid-19 pandemic had reiterated the importance of the medical sector

“The once in a lifetime Covid-19 pandemic has re-affirmed the importance of the health sector…The future will belong to societies which invest in healthcare. Learning from the pandemic, we keep working to ensure inclusive and quality healthcare services to all our countrymen,” he said,

The Prime Minister said that they are working towards taking Indian practices such as Yoga, Ayurveda and Siddha to the world. “In the coming years I envision India as being the go-to destination for quality and affordable care,” he said. “India has everything needed to be a hub for medical tourism. I say this based on the skills of our doctors.” He urged the medical fraternity to take up at telemedicine as well.

“I am told that this would be the first time that 11 medical colleges are being inaugurated at one stroke located in any one state,” Modi said adding that recently, he had inaugurated 9 medical colleges at one go in Uttar Pradesh.

With these 11 new colleges — one each in Virudhunagar, Namakkal, Nilgiris, Tiruppur, Thiruvallur, Nagapattinam, Dindigul, Kallakurichi, Ariyalur, Ramanathapuram and Krishnagiri — the total number of government medical colleges in the state has increased to 36 with the total number of medical colleges in the state at 70, which is the highest in the country, a state health department official said.

The 11 colleges were sanctioned during the regime of NDA ally AIADMK between 2017-2021. A major part of construction was completed before the DMK assumed office in May 2021.

The colleges have been constructed at an estimated cost of nearly ₹4,000 crore, of which around ₹2,415 crore has been given by the union government and the remaining amount is met by the state.

Talking about his fascination for the Tamil language, Modi also pitched for the Centre’s National Education Policy (NEP) which the DMK-led government has been opposing.

Tamil Nadu has been planning to come up with a state education policy. “We have given great emphasis on promotion of Indian languages and Indian Knowledge Systems in our National Education Policy 2020,” Modi said. “Tamil can now be studied as a classical language in school education at the secondary level or middle level. Tamil is one of the languages in the Bhasha-Sangam where school students get familiar with 100 sentences in various Indian languages in audio, videos.”

During his address, chief minister M K Stalin asked the Prime Minister to consider the state’s request seeking exemption from NEET favourably. “…the admission policy of Tamil Nadu plays a very important role in our health infrastructure. It is to protect this, we have been continuously demanding NEET exemption for Tamil Nadu,” Stalin told the Prime Minister. “Our moto is to provide opportunities to poor people and those from the hinterland. This policy is the reason for Tamil Nadu’s success in the health sector.” Hindustan Times

Copyright © 2024 Medical Buyer

error: Content is protected !!