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New Delhi : PM Narendra Modi inaugurated 11 new medical colleges and a new campus of Central Institute of Classical Tamil (CICT) in Tamil Nadu on January 12, 2022, through video conference.
Union Ministers Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, Dr L Murugan, and Dr Bharati Pawar, and CM of Tamil Nadu Thiru M K Stalin were present on the occasion.
Addressing the gathering, Modi said that with the inauguration of 11 medical colleges and the inauguration of the new building of the Central Institute of Classical Tamil, health of the society is being furthered and at the same time our connection with our culture is getting stronger.
The Prime Minister pointed out that shortage of doctors had remained an issue for a very long time and his government made it a priority to address this critical gap. He informed that in 2014, the country had 387 medical colleges. In the last seven years only, this number has gone up to 596 medical colleges. This is an increase of 54%, Modi added, according to a PIB release.
In 2014, India had around 82,000 medical Undergraduate and Postgraduate seats. in the last seven years, this number has gone up to around 1 lakh 48 thousand seats. This is an increase of about 80%, the PM said. In 2014, there were only seven AIIMS in the country. But after 2014, the number of AIIMS approved has increased to 22. At the same time, various reforms have been undertaken to make the medical education sector more transparent, he said.
Modi said that by inaugurating 11 medical colleges in one go in Tamil Nadu, he, in a way, broke his own record when he recently inaugurated 9 medical colleges in Uttar Pradesh. He expressed happiness that by establishing colleges in two aspirational districts of Ramanathapuram and Virudhunagar along with one in hilly district of Nilgiris, regional imbalance is being addressed.
The Prime Minister said the once in a lifetime Covid-19 pandemic has reaffirmed the importance of the health sector. The future will belong to societies that invest in healthcare. The Government of India has brought many reforms in the sector. Thanks to Ayushman Bharat, the poor have access to top quality and affordable healthcare. The cost of knee implants and stents have become one-third of what it was. He also informed that by providing sanitary napkins at the cost of Rs 1, healthy lifestyle among the women will be furthered. The Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Infrastructure Mission aims to address the critical gaps in health infrastructure and health research especially at District level, Modi said.
A support of over Rs 3,000 crore would be provided to Tamil Nadu in the next five years. This will help in establishing/ Urban Health & Wellness Centres, District Public Health labs, and Critical Care Blocks across the state, the Prime Minister said. He said, ” In the coming years, I envision India as being the go-to destination for quality and affordable care.” He urged the medical fraternity to look at telemedicine as well.
The Prime Minister remarked that he was always fascinated by the richness of the Tamil language and culture. “One of the happiest moments of my life was when I got a chance to speak a few words in the world’s oldest language, Tamil, at the United Nations,” he revealed. He said that his Government also had the honour of setting up ‘Subramania Bharati Chair’ on Tamil Studies at Banaras Hindu University. He said that this chair located in his Parliamentary constituency, will drive greater curiosity about Tamil.
Commenting on the emphasis on promotion of Indian languages and Indian Knowledge Systems in the National Education Policy 2020, the PM said that 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.
The new medical colleges have been established at an estimated cost of about Rs 4,000 crore, of which around Rs 2,145 crore has been provided by the Union government and rest by the Tamil Nadu government. The districts in which the new Medical Colleges have been established are: Virudhunagar, Namakkal, The Nilgiris, Tiruppur, Thiruvallur, Nagapattinam, Dindigul, Kallakurichi, Ariyalur, Ramanathapuram, and Krishnagiri.