Ghulam Nabi Azad Urges Young Medical Graduates to take up Rural Assignments on their own Volition, Calls for more Active Role of Private Sector in Funding Higher Education

The Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Ghulam Nabi Azad

lighting the lamp at the Golden Jubilee Meet of the Ravindra Nath

Tagore Medical College, Udaipur in Rajasthan on December 25, 2011.

The Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways,

Dr. C.P. Joshi is also seen. PIB Photo

Ghulam Nabi Azad, Minister of Health & Family Welfare has called upon young medical graduates to take up rural assignments on their own volition. Speaking today at the inauguration of Geetanjali University, Udaipur the Minister said that the nation needs active participation of young doctors in providing health-care services in the rural areas, particularly related to prevention and control of nutritional deficiencies, especially anaemia in adolescent girls, pregnant women & lactating mothers, prevention and control of Malaria & T.B, vaccination, contraception and family planning services and screening for early detection of diabetes, hypertension and cancers.

Azad said that the expansion of the horizons of knowledge through education is taking place at a rapid pace all over the world. However, Governments alone cannot shoulder the responsibility in view of the huge requirement. Therefore, the private sector has to also play an extremely important role by sharing the burden of the State in funding higher education.

He emphasized that while ensuring efficiency in teaching and improvement in quality, private sector institutions should also take affirmative action to help the weaker and disadvantaged sections to acquire professional/ higher education needed in today’s world.

Speaking at another function yesterday on occasion of Golden Jubilee Meet of the Ravindra Nath Tagore Medical College, Udaipur, Azad said that the field of health & medicine is a dynamic field requiring swift responses to emerging threats and adaptation to technological advances. He said the situation is all the more complicated in a developing and vast country like India which is faced with the triple burden of existing communicable diseases, rapidly increasing non-communicable diseases and emerging and re-emerging infections.

The Minister said that the Government of India has done its utmost to make health care services, accessible, affordable and equitable for the benefit of the people, particularly the poorest households in the remotest regions of the country.

He elaborated that the last decade has seen the allocation for health sector being substantially enhanced. It was increased from Rs.36, 378 crores in the 10th Plan to Rs.1, 36,147 crores in the 11th Plan, which is almost a triple jump. An outlay of Rs.22, 300 crores for the financial year 2010-11 was an increase of 14.2% over the previous year’s allocation of Rs. 19,534 crores. The Plan Allocations were further stepped up in 2011-12 by 20 per cent to Rs.26, 760 crore. ---PIB