- Sunday, November 24, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIAN prime minister Narendra Modi on Thursday (30) said his government is working towards transforming the country’s health sector and increasing its strength and self-reliance in the sector.
Speaking at an event after virtually laying the foundation stone of four medical colleges in four districts of the north-western Indian state of Rajasthan, Modi said, “This pandemic has taught a lot in the health sector across the world. Every country is engaged in dealing with this crisis in its own way. India has resolved to increase its strength, self-reliance during this time. The beginning of work on four medical colleges in Rajasthan and CIPET-Jaipur is a key step in this regard.”
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“Since 2014, the central government has approved 23 new medical colleges for Rajasthan. Out of this, seven medical colleges are already functional and we are laying the foundation for four of them today,” the prime minister added.
He said his government wants to ensure that every district in the country has at least one medical college or an institution that imparts post-graduate medical education.
Modi also said on the occasion that improving the health sector in the western Indian state of Gujarat came as a challenge to him after he took over as its chief minister in 2001.
“From medical education to health infrastructure to medical facilities, we tried to change the situation,” he said.
The prime minister said when his government came to power at the Centre in 2014, there were just over 80,000 undergraduate and post-graduate seats in the medical college but in the last seven years, that number has gone up to 1.4 lakh (0.14 million).
“Today, India is moving towards an empowered network of 22 AIIMS from 6 AIIMS. In the last 6-7 years, over 170 new medical colleges have been started and over 100 new medical colleges are being developed,” he said.
“We want to ensure that every district has at least one medical college or an institution that provides post-graduate medical education. We have made several reforms to ensure this in the last few years,” Modi added.
“The health system of our country was divided at several levels. There was a lack of connectivity and collective approach in health systems between states. There was a massive gap between primary healthcare and big hospitals. It was of paramount importance to remove these bottlenecks. To transform the medical system, we worked on a new medical system for the entire country. Initiatives such as Swachh Bharat, Ayushman Bharat and Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission are all part of that view,” he added.
Earlier this week, Modi launched the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission under which every citizen will get a digital health identity card and have his/her health records digitally protected.
Modi on Thursday also inaugurated the Central Institute of Petrochemicals Engineering and Technology in Rajasthan’s Jaipur district through video-conferencing.
On the occasion, Indian health minister Mansukh Mandaviya, Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot and Speaker of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian parliament, Om Birla, were also present.
