Prime Minister's Office
English rendering of PM’s speech at the inauguration of Smt. Rasilaben Sevantilal Shah Venus Hospital in Gujarat on 30 January, 2019
Shri Vijay Bhai, the popular Chief Minister of Gujarat; Cabinet colleague Shri Kishore Bhai; my fellow Parliamentarian C.R. Patil, Jardosh Behen, all the dignitaries on the stage, the family members of Sevanti Bhai! I am really fortunate that in a short span of time, I had the privilege of inaugurating two modern hospitals in Gujarat.
In Ahmedabad, a modern hospital named after Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel was built close to the V.S hospital. Sevanti Bhai is looking after the business. He has not gained or lost even a gram of weight since I am seeing him. He has a high place for ideals and values in his life. When I was the Chief Minister of Gujarat and a delegation had to be sent abroad, I usually requested him to come along. Often, he used to accompany the delegation. However, he never compromised with the rules. He always has commitment towards his principles.
A few days back, Sevanti Bhai and his family had come to Delhi. He described about his project in great detail. His family was completely engrossed in the project. He also talked about his future plans. He had requested me to visit his hospital. My relationship with Sevanti Bhai is really old. Thus, I couldn't refuse. There was always a feeling of kinship, respect and bonding with him and his family.
Even business can be conducted and income can be generated from businesses without compromising with the principles. People can be served in a best possible way and the entire family can also be kept together. We can get to see all of these in Sevanti Bhai's life.
I have seen the hospital. I have to say that not just Surat but the entire Gujarat has got a new view in the health sector. So far he has polished stones and made diamonds but now he wants to serve the mankind and Lord Narayan. As per the mantra here -
“सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिनः सर्वे सन्तु निरामयाः
सर्वे भद्राणि पश्यन्तु मा कश्चि द्दुःख भाग्भवेत्।।”
With that spirit, he has started a new beginning. Best wishes to him!
One thing is certain that the progress of any nation depends upon the citizens, be it their education, health or their capabilities and skills. The Indian government is currently working on major schemes so that the nation is healthy and the future generation is healthy. At every step from birth to old age, the central and the state governments have intervened in the health sector. These governments have tried to provide assistance and facilities. In order to give birth to a healthy child, it is essential for the mother to be healthy. And Rs.6000 to the pregnant mothers that ensures nutritious meals to those mothers is beneficial for reducing the Infant Mortality Rate and Maternal Mortality Rate.
Besides, with the help of Swasth Matritva Yojana, institutional deliveries are being promoted. Here, in our villages, there has been a system of midwife for deliveries. Sometimes, the child dies while sometimes the mother and sometimes both the mother and the child die. But now due to institutional deliveries and hospital deliveries, the infant and maternal mortality rates are coming down and healthy children are born.
The foremost task after the birth of a child is its vaccination. Vaccinations were there before and even our government is carrying out the same. We have not started the immunization process. Shreyansh Bhai reminded me of this. But earlier the level of immunization was worrisome. Budget was spent, people used to get TA-DA but immunization work was not done. We started the Indradhanush scheme and initiated a massive campaign and we are trying to ensure that maximum number of mothers get the benefits. Compared to before, the immunization work has become several times more massive now and preventive measures have been taken so that the mother and the child will not have to face any trouble in the future.
Just as we need curative healthcare system, we equally need a robust preventive health care system. And Swachh Bharat or sanitation is a part of the preventive health care system. I remember the day when I had talked about sanitation from the ramparts of the Red Fort after becoming the Prime Minister, many people had mocked at me. But when we came to power there was only 38% coverage while today it has reached to 98%.
You can imagine, these mothers and sisters who had to relieve themselves in the open before dawn and after dusk would be showering their blessings. Earlier they had to face so many difficulties. But all these initiatives have been taken one after the other in the field of healthcare. Some people took immense pleasure in making a mockery of Yoga.However not only India but the entire world has accepted the importance of Yoga in the field of wellness. We have moved in the direction of preventive healthcare, i.e. not only curative healthcare undertaken by the hospitals, medicine dosages and operation but also in the form of preventive care. Now India has framed the Ayushman Bharat scheme, and the day Ayushman Bharat was planned, check out any newspaper or TV news, the way they were after me, criticizing me about where the money would come from, so on and so forth.
It has only been about 100 days. Today, in such a short span of time, almost 10 lakh of such people who had never imagined about getting operated in a hospital or even visiting a hospital or a good government hospital have availed the benefits of the scheme in 70-75% private hospitals and 25-30% government hospitals, that too without spending a single penny. The scheme would cover 50 crore people. This is the largest scheme in the world.
Even in a middle-class family, if a member falls ill, the entire family comes under the burden of the disease. And that family soon slips into poverty. A disease in a poor family can destroy the family. Such a serious situation arises. Ayushman Bharat Yojana took hold of the situation. 50 crore people means population equivalent to the total population of America, Canada and Mexico would benefit from the Ayushman Bharat Yojana.
There are several families in the country that are under crisis and are waiting for their death for 3-4 years. On an average, 10,000 people per day are taking advantage of the scheme. And I can see that in the coming days, its benefits will increase. The possibilities of new hospitals emerging in tier-2 and tier-3 cities like Bardoli, Navdari or Pardi are immense in the near future.
In India, the possibilities of private investments and businesses are emerging within the health sector in our country. As a result, a new ecosystem will develop on a large scale for providing medical education to our youth. I believe that it will play a crucial role in making India healthy. I am glad that this hospital too is associated with the Ayushman Bharat Yojana. Arrangements have been made to ensure that the poorest of the poor can avail the facilities of a hospital and the expenses will be borne by the government.
In the coming days, we will move more towards generic medicines to strengthen the health sector. Usually in every household there is an elderly with diabetes. They require medicines daily. In a joint family, old parents need medicines daily. We have started a massive campaign of generic medicines. 5000 generic medicine centres have been set up. We have planned to increase the numbers. We have put in place a system wherein the medicines that cost Rs.300 will cost Rs.30.
The prices of the medicines have been reduced on a large scale. In a few medicines there has been a reduction of 70%; in case of some other medicines, there has been a reduction of 50% and in certain others 40%. But the task was done to benefit the common man. It was a difficult task. It was something that would disappoint the pharmacy sector. Yet it was done for the common man.
For heart operations, stents, knee operations, cost is really high - Rs.1 lakh, Rs.1.5 lakh or even Rs.3 lakhs. After discussing with these companies, the cost of these things has been reduced to 30% or 40%. If the poor wants to get stents, the cost has been reduced. In a way, we have been working for the social life in the field of health, be it is infrastructure related work, or preventive healthcare or human resource development.
We had all these leaders here who used to deliver speeches in Gujarat when I was the Chief Minister, but nobody said anything against them. We did not have a single school with science stream in the tribal belt of Umargam to Ambaji. Now if there is no school with science stream in the tribal belt, then how will a student go to a medical college? And how will they avail the benefits of reservation for them?
After I became the Chief Minister here, the expansion of schools with science stream in the tribal belt started. And students started studying medical stream. And today we have been successful in establishing a new Medical College in Gujarat almost every year. The seats have also been increased extensively for the students and the students of Gujarat are getting benefitted from it.
What I mean to say is that when we are working for all-round development, then an important decision, especially one concerning the General Category that had resentment and expectations with reservation, was taken. Taking a bold step, we have amended the Constitution of India. This was not going to be possible just by amending the Constitution. Some political parties did not accept this to fulfil their political interests. Today, we amended the Constitution and ensured 10 per cent reservation for the poor children of General Category and I congratulate the Government of Gujarat for implementing it first.
The poor families of the General Category will benefit in jobs and education. It has been ensured that those who are already getting the benefits are not having even 1 per cent reduction in their benefits. A new system was created and the decision was also taken to increase 10 per cent seats in education so that opportunities are not reduced, so that a direction of a healthy development could be taken. We have worked to create such a model without creating tension in the society.
The excellent work of utilizing the system of governance for the service of the society is going on with such a spirit of dedication. I heartily congratulate Sevanti Bhai, his family for their courage, service and dedication. And also on behalf of the Government of India, I assure you that the government will stand shoulder to shoulder with you in this work of service.
Thanks a lot.