Prime Minister's Office
English rendering of PM’s address at inauguration of nine medical colleges in Uttar Pradesh
Bharat Mata Ki Jai,
Bharat Mata Ki Jai
I greet all of you from Siddharthnagar, the holy land of Lord Buddha. Nine medical colleges are being inaugurated from the land where Lord Buddha spent his early days. This is a big step towards a healthy and fit India. Congratulations to all of you.
Uttar Pradesh Governor Smt. Anandiben Patel ji, UP's popular and Karmayogi Chief Minister Yogi Adityanathji, Union Health Minister Shri Mansukh Mandaviyaji, other UP government ministers present on the dais, UP government ministers present at places where new medical colleges have been built, all MPs, MLAs, other public representatives present in the program, and my dear brothers and sisters,
Today comes with a double dose of health for Purvanchal, for the entire Uttar Pradesh and a gift for you. Nine medical colleges of UP are being inaugurated from Siddharthnagar. Another mega medical infrastructure scheme, which is very important for the entire country, is going to start from Purvanchal itself. I will launch that scheme from Kashi after interacting with you and not before seeking blessings from you and from this hold land.
Friends,
The governments at the center and in UP, is the result of decades of penance by many karma yogis. Siddharthnagar also gave such a dedicated public representative to the country in the form of Madhav Prasad Tripathiji, whose tireless hard work is benefiting the nation today. MadhavBabu spent his entire life for the establishment of ‘karma yoga’ in politics. He always thought about the development of Purvanchal as the first president of the UP BJP and then as a minister at the Centre. Therefore, naming the new medical college of Siddharthnagar after MadhavBabu is a true tribute to his service. I congratulate Yogi ji and his entire government for this. The name of MadhavBabu will also inspire the young doctors graduating from here for public service.
Brothers and sisters,
UP and Purvanchal have a vast heritage as far as faith, spirituality and social life is concerned. This legacy is also being linked with the future of a healthy, capable and prosperous Uttar Pradesh. It reflects in the nine districts where the medical colleges have been inaugurated today. Madhav Prasad Tripathi Medical College in Siddharthnagar, Maharishi Deoraha Baba Medical College in Deoria, Maharishi Vishwamitra Medical College in Ghazipur, MaaVindhyavasini Medical College in Mirzapur, Dr. Sone Lal Patel Medical College in Pratapgarh, Veerangana Avanti Bai Lodhi Medical College in Etah, Medical College named after great warriors Amar Shaheed Jodha Singh and Thakur Dariyawn Singh at Fatehpur, Umanath Singh Medical College at Jaunpur, and Medical College at Hardoi. So many new medical colleges are now ready to serve the people of Purvanchal. In these nine new medical colleges, about 2,500 new beds have been created and new employment opportunities have been created for more than 5,000 doctors and paramedical staff. Besides, it has opened a new avenue of medical education for hundreds of youth every year.
Friends,
The Purvanchal, which was left by the earlier governments to cope with diseases, will now become the medical hub of eastern India.Now this land will create many doctors who will save the country from diseases. Purvanchal, whose image was tarnished by the previous governments and which was maligned due to the tragic deaths owing to encephalitis, the same Purvanchal, the same Uttar Pradesh is going to give a new light of health to eastern India.
Friends,
The brothers and sisters of UP cannot forget the agony of the poor medical system of UP narrated by Yogi jiin the Parliament. Yogi ji was not the Chief Minister then, he was an MP and he became an MP at a very young age. And now the people of UP are witness to the fact that when they gave an opportunity to Yogi ji to serve the people, how he prevented the encephalitis from spreading and saved the lives of thousands of children of this area. When the government is sensitive and there is a sense of compassion to feel the pain of the poor, then this kind of work happens.
Brothers and sisters,
Basic medical and health facilities were never given priority in our country before and even after independence. If you want good treatment, you have to go to a big city, if you want to get treatment from a good doctor, then you have to go to a big city, if someone's health deteriorates during the night, a car has to be arranged so that he can be rushed to the city. This has been the reality of our villages and countryside. Better health facilities were hardly available in the villages, towns and even in the district headquarters. I have also experienced this problem. There was only disappointment for the poor-Dalit-exploited-deprived of the country, the farmers of the country, people of the villages, the mothers with small children clasped to their chest and our elders when they looked to the government for basic health facilities. My poor brothers and sisters had accepted this despair as their destiny. When you gave me an opportunity to serve the country in 2014, our government worked round the clock to change the prevailing situation. Comprehending the suffering of the common man, we became an ally in his sorrow and pain. We launched a ‘mahayagna’ and started many schemes to improve and modernize the health facilities of the country. But I will always regret that the earlier government which was here did not support us. It politicized the development works and did not let the plans of the Center to progress here in UP.
Friends,
Sisters and brothers of different age groups are sitting here. Does anyone remember and if you do then let me know whether so many medical colleges have been inaugurated simultaneouslyin the history of Uttar Pradesh. Has it ever happened? No, it hasn't happened. Why this did not happen earlier and why it is happening now is because of only one reason – political will and political priority. The priority of those who were earlier in the government was to earn money for themselves and fill their family's coffers. Our priority is to save money for the poor and to provide basic facilities to poor families.
Friends,
Illness does not differentiate between the rich and the poor. Everyone is equalto it. Therefore, these facilities benefit as much as the poor asthe middle class families.
Friends,
What did the government in Delhi seven years ago and the government in UP four years ago undertake in Purvanchal? Those who were in the government earlier would stop just by announcing a dispensary or a small hospital for votes. People also kept hoping. But for years together, either the building was not built andeven if a building was built, then there were no machines, if both were arranged, then there would be no doctors and other staff. On the contrary, the cycle of corruption, which fleeced the poor of thousands of crores of rupees, used to run round the clock. There was corruption in purchase of medicines and ambulances, appointments and transfer-postings. In this entire game, some dynasties did flourish and the cycle of corruption continued, but the poor families of Purvanchal and UP got crushed.
It is rightly said:
‘जाके पाँव न फटी बिवाई, वो क्या जाने पीर पराई’ .
Friends,
In the last few years, the double engine government has made sincere efforts and worked continuously to provide better health facilities to every poor. We implemented a new health policy in the country so that the poor could get affordable treatment and they could also be saved from diseases. In UP also, 90 lakh patients have got free treatment under the Ayushman BharatYojana. The poor have saved about 1,000 crore rupees in treatments under this scheme. Today affordable medicines are available from thousands of Jan AushadhiKendras. Cancer treatment, dialysis and even heart surgery have become very affordable and facilities like toilets have reduced many diseases. Moreover, work is in progress with a futuristicvision to build better hospitals across the country and equip them with better doctors and other medical staff. Now foundation stones of hospitals and medical colleges are laid and they are also inaugurated on time. The earlier government before Yogi ji's government built only six medical colleges in UP during its tenure. During the tenure of Yogi ji, 16 medical colleges have started and work is going on in full swing on 30 new medical colleges. AIIMS being built in Rae Bareli and Gorakhpur is a kind of bonus for UP.
Brothers and sisters,
Medical colleges not only provide better treatment but also produce new doctors and paramedics. When a medical college is built, special laboratory training centers, nursing units, medical units and many new means of employment are also created there. Unfortunately, there was no nationwide strategy to meet the shortage of doctors in the country in the earlier decades. The rules and regulations that were made for the supervision of medical colleges and medical education and the institutions that were created decades ago, were running in the old way. They were also becoming a hindrance in the construction of new medical colleges.
In the last seven years, every such outdated system is being replaced which was becoming a hindrance in the path of medical education. The result is also reflected in the number of medical seats. There were less than 90,000 medical seats in the country before 2014. In the last seven years, 60,000 new medical seats have been added. In Uttar Pradesh too, there were only 1,900 medical seats in government medical colleges till 2017. The double engine government has added more than 1,900 seats in the last four years.
Friends,
An important aspect of increasing the number of medical colleges and the medical seats is that more and more people will become doctors. Poor mothers’ sons and daughters will also find it easier to become a doctor. The result of the untiring efforts of the government is that we will be able to produce more doctors in the next 10-12 years than the number of doctors since independence.
Friends,
One Nation, One Exam has been implemented to relieve the youth from the tension of different entrance tests across the country. This has saved the cost and also reduced the hassle. Legal provisions have also been made to check the fees of private colleges in order to make medical education accessible to the poor and middle class. There were also many problems due to lack of medical education in the local language. Now the option of medical studies has been given in many Indian languages, including Hindi. When youth learn in their mother tongue, they will have a better grip on their work.
Friends,
The people of UP have demonstrated even in this corona period that the state can improve its health facilities rapidly. Four days ago, the country achieved the massive target of 100 crore vaccine doses. And UP also has a major contribution in this achievement. I congratulate all the people of UP, corona warriors, government andadministration. Today the country has a protective shield of 100 crore vaccine doses. Despite this, UP is busy in its preparations to protect against corona. A children's care unit has either been set up or is in progress in every district of UP to deal with corona. There are more than 60 labs to test Covid in UP now. Work is also underway at a brisk pace to set up more than 500 new oxygen plants.
Friends,
SabkaSaath, SabkaVikas, SabkaVishwas and SabkaPrayas– this is the way forward. Everyone's efforts will be useful for the country when everyone is healthy and when everyone gets opportunities. This time the festival of Diwali and Chhath has created a new belief for health in Purvanchal. With the wish that this belief should become the basis of rapid development, many congratulations and thanks again to the entire UP for the new medical colleges and all of you who came in such a large number to bless us. Thank you very much.
DISCLAIMER: This is the approximate translation of PM’s speech. Original speech was delivered in Hindi.