Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Apr 5: Union Health Minister J. P. Nadda, along with Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh, distributed Post Graduate MD / MS and Post Doctoral DM/ MCh degrees in various disciplines to medicos at the convocation ceremony of Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research (PGIMER) and Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital here.
Union Health Secretary Bhanu Pratap Sharma, Director General of Health Services Dr. Jagdish Prasad and Director PGIMER Dr Rajiv Sood were also present on the occasion.
In his address, J.P. Nadda said that the Ministry of Health is working towards the goal of “Digital India” and “Swachh Bharat Abhiyan” along with full implementation of “e Hospital” concept. He said that for accomplishing the objective of “Swachh Bharat”, his Ministry has launched a scheme called “KAYAKALP”.
Nadda also disclosed that the Government is planning to set-up “AMRIT” (Affordable Medicines and Reliable Implants for Treatment) Pharmacy which will make available anti-cancer, cardiac drugs and various implants at discounted price.
Dr Jitendra Singh, while speaking on the occasion, said, even though there is mushrooming of medical schools across the country, India still continues to face a dearth of doctors in rural areas and nearly one-third of the population in remote and rural areas does not have access to optimum healthcare. How best to correct this imbalance, is a challenge which the society as a whole and not the Government alone, needs to address, he added.
Dr Jitendra Singh suggested that there should be a provision to re-employ, engage or hire such eminent medical teachers who retire at the age of 65 years. He said, the 5 years of lifespan between the age of 65 and 70 is a grey area because while the private medical colleges avail of the MCI provision to engage medical teachers up to the age of 70 years, in most of the government institutes these teachers superannuate at the age of 65 years. As a result, many of eminent teachers who could have continued with their valuable services in Government sector medical institutes feel constrained to join private medical colleges after retirement, where their expertise and experience is often not put to the maximum use, he observed.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
