President Pranab Mukherjee has called for more investment in health sector particularly in rural areas to bridge the gap of lack of health infrastructure. President Mukherjee was in the temple town of Udupi in Karnataka on Sunday and said creating better health infrastructure through investments has helped cure many diseases but “there remains a huge gap yet”. He said the country requires not only accessible but affordable medical facilities.
“Against the international norm of a doctor per thousand populations, we have one doctor for 1,700 people in our country. No civilised society can tolerate this,” he said. “The situation is more alarming in rural India where the shortage of surgeons is estimated to the tune of 83 per cent. The overall shortage translates to 81.2 per cent as on 2015” he added.
He was speaking at a function after laying the foundation stone for a super specialty hospital at Udupi.
Mukherjee suggested that the situation requires increasing the number of medical colleges and engagement of corporate sector, especially in the rural area. He asked people to think about the kind of healthcare system they want – a commercial, profit-driven one or a system compatible with the socio-economic conditions of the society. He also condemned attacks on doctors, medical staff and vandalism of health institutions. “This is no way… If you can’t trust doctors whom can you trust.”
later President Mukherjee visited 800-year-old Sri Krishna Temple in Udupi.
However Chief Minister Siddaramaiah did not accompany the president to Udupi as he was busy keeping his prior commitments on Sunday. A source in the CMs secretariat said he did not accompany the president due to his commitment. However political circles were abuzz with news that chief minister skipped attending a function at Udupi matt due to his ideological differences with the mutt.
Though Siddaramaiah has visited Udupi city twice after becoming the Chief Minister, and several times earlier, he has never visited the Sri Krishna Mutt/Temple. They say Siddaramaiah was upset with the decade-old controversy surrounding the demolition of Kanaka Gopura in Udupi. In 2004, the mutt decided to bring down the old Gopura built in 1910-12 in the name of Bhakti saint Kanakadasa, who is also seen as an icon of the OBC Kuruba community to which Siddaramaiah belongs.
Siddaramaiah, who was then deputy Chief Minister in N. Dharam Singh’s Congress-JD(S) coalition government, had objected to the demolition of the Kanaka Gopura, and strongly argued for the Government taking over the Krishna mutt.
However a senior official said that since it is a private visit of the president to the mutt, it will not attract the provisions of protocol. Siddaramaiah who is playing backward classes appeasement politics to the hilt ahead of assembly polls has proved his opposition to the demolition of Kanaka Gopura once again.