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New Delhi : The Vice President (VP) of India M Venkaiah Naidu on December 7, 2018, addressed the 46th Annual Convocation of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in the presence of Union Health and Family Welfare Ministrr J P Nadda.
Addressing the participants, Naidu said the Government has planned for rapid expansion of the medical education facilities in the entire country by establishing new AIIMS-like institutions and medical college in the states. “India is making rapid strides in medical tourism with people from other countries coming to our country for a range of treatments from liver transplant to knee replacement,” he said.
The Vice President said that only the doctors can provide the healing touch to the ailing persons and only they can make the difference between life and death. Only you can add life to people’s years, he said. The Vice President presented the Lifetime Achievement Awards to Dr A K Saraya, Dr Samira Nundy, Dr Kamal Buckshee, and Dr Gomathy Gopinath (in absence) on this occasion. He also presented Gold Medals and Certificates to 31 Medical Students on the occasion.
Union Health Minister J P Nadda congratulated all the students and stated that ensuring the highest standards of medical education is a top priority for the government. “We have now planned for a rapid expansion of medical education in the country,” he said. Nadda stated that the Government has undertaken many initiatives to improve medical education in the country. He said that the government has increased the age of retirement of doctors to 65 years and is setting up more medical and nursing schools besides multi-skilling of doctors to overcome the shortage of specialists.
Nadda said that the Phase-I of National Cancer Institute (NCI), hospital and residential complex at Jhajjar AIIMS with Project Value of about Rs 2,035 crore shall be made functional by next month. “Since 2014-15, the Ministry has granted permission for establishment of 118 new medical colleges including 54 in the Government sector. The country has now 502 medical colleges with more than 70,000 MBBS seats. We have been able to add over 18,600 UG seats and 12,000 PG seats,” Nadda added. “The norms for medical colleges have been rationalised. The country has now around 46,000 PG seats including DNB & CPS,” he mentioned.
Nadda said, that under Ayushman Bharat, Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) programme, the government is providing assured universal healthcare to over 50 crore people from the poorest, vulnerable and marginalised sections. “I am happy to share that since its launch more than 4.5 lakh people have already availed of benefits of PMJAY, the world’s largest public health programs,” Nadda said. Nadda, also awarded degrees to 671 graduating students.
Also present at the function were Prof. Randeep Guleria, Director, AIIMS New Delhi, Prof. V K Bahl, Dean (Academics), AIIMS New Delhi, Dr. Sanjeev Lalwani, Registrar, AIIMS New Delhi, along with faculty members, scientists and the students, according to a PIB release.