Tag: Inauguration

  • Stop posing for cameras, help miners trapped in Meghalaya coal mine: Rahul urges Modi

    Congress president Rahul Gandhi Wednesday made a fervent appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to save 15 people trapped in a flooded coal mine in Meghalaya since December 13, alleging the government was not organising high-pressure pumps for the rescue operation.

    He accused Modi of instead posing for cameras and strutting on the Bogibeel bridge on the mighty Brahmaputra river in neighbouring Assam after inaugurating it on Tuesday.

    “15 miners have been struggling for air in a flooded coal mine for two weeks.

    “Meanwhile, PM struts about on Bogibeel Bridge posing for cameras.

    “His government refuses to organise high pressure pumps for the rescue.

    “PM please save the miners,” Gandhi tweeted.

    He said this amid reports that the operation to rescue the 15 miners is hampered by lack of equipment. The miners were trapped after water from the nearby Lytein river suddenly gushed into the pit.

    A senior Meghalaya home department official has said the police force in East Jaintia Hills district, where the mine is located, do not have adequate personnel to deal with the problem.

  • Venkaiah Naidu decries shortage of doctors, medical colleges

    Despite health insurance programmes like Ayushman Bharat which offer financial protection to 10.74 crore deprived rural families, India is lagging far behind developed countries in health care, according to M Venkaiah Naidu, Vice President.

    The Vice-President decried the shortage of trained doctors and dearth of medical colleges in the country. He made this observations while inaugurating modern facilities in a corporate hospital in Chennai on Monday. According to Naidu, the inadequate number of physicians available per 10,000 people in India was an area of concern  when compared to developed countries.

    “While the number of physicians available is 20 per 10,000 population in developed countries , it is only six in India. As against the World Health Organisation norm of one doctor per 1,000, there is one doctor per 1,700 population in India,” pointed out Naidu.

    He said that in order to reach the target set by the WHO, a high level committee of the erstwhile Planning Commission (known now as NITI Ayog) has recommended the setting up of 187 more medical colleges by 2022.

    The Vice-President also pointed out that 62.58 per cent of the population in the country meet medical and hospitalisation expenses on their own. He attributed this to the low penetration of medical insurance and shortage of doctors.

    “One of the biggest challenges in building a comprehensive healthcare system is the existence of huge disparity between urban and rural areas. No doubt, healthcare has been accorded utmost priority by successive governments since Independence. But many challenges on this front continue to be formidable. They include low public spend, low doctor-patient ratio, low patient-bed ratio, rising out-of-pocket expenditure, dearth of medical colleges and trained doctors, inadequate infrastructure in rural areas, lack of penetration of health insurance and inadequate disease surveillance and preventive mechanisms,” said Naidu.

    He had called for a law that makes rural practice mandatory for all doctors. “Doctors should set up practices in rural areas. The Centre and State governments must make a rule that whichever doctor, who graduates or completes post graduation , after working for sometime, they must also work in the rural areas before they get their first promotion,” Naidu said on Sunday while inaugurating another corporate hospital in the city. He also called for wider health insurance coverage in the country.

    The statistics disclosed by the Vice-President substantiates the scenario in India’s health sector explained by G Viswanathan, chancellor, VIT University in 2012. “We require 12 lakh doctors and 36 lakh nurses to satisfy WHO norms. To fulfill the WHO norms we may take decades if we expand in the snail speed,” Viswanathan had said during the convocation ceremony of VIT.

    Dr GR Raveendranath, general secretary, Doctors Association for Social Equality (DASE), a frontal organisation of the CPI, has been suggesting that it is possible to increase the number of medical colleges in the country without any hassle. “All we have to do is to convert the General Hospitals in the district headquarters into medical colleges. It is a win-win situation for all stake holders because the infrastructure is already there. The up-gradation of the hospitals into medical colleges will increase the facilities without much costs,” said Dr Raveendranath.

  • PM Modi arrives in Maldives to attend President-elect Solih’s inauguration

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived here on Saturday to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Maldives President-elect Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, who surprisingly defeated strongman Abdulla Yameen in September.

    This is Modi’s first visit to the Maldives as prime minister. The last visit by an Indian Prime Minister to the Indian Ocean island nation was by Manmohan Singh in 2011.

    “I will convey to the new Maldivian Government of Mr Solih the desire of the Indian Government to work closely for realisation of their developmental priorities, especially in areas of infrastructure, health care, connectivity & human resource development,” Modi said in a series of tweets ahead of the visit.

    He said the recent elections in the Maldives represent the collective aspirations of the people for democracy, rule of law and a prosperous future.

    “We in India strongly desire to see a stable, democratic, prosperous and peaceful Republic of Maldives,” the prime minister said.

    Modi also congratulated Solih on his victory in the recent elections and wished him “the very best for his tenure”.

    “India and the Maldives share a strong partnership rooted in history, strong bonds between our peoples, and their shared aspiration for peace and prosperity. My Government’s vision of inclusive development ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikaas’ extends to all our neighbours too,” he said.

    Modi also said he will convey to Solih his wish to work with the new Maldives government in different areas to boost bilateral ties.

    Solih, the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party’s candidate who surprisingly emerged victorious over incumbent president Yameen in the election held on September 23, had extended the invitation during a phone call by Modi.

    The Maldives is the only South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation SAARC country that Modi has not visited. His visit to the Maldives, a strategically vital island and a popular tourist destination, was cancelled in March 2015 due to the volatile political situation then.

    India-Maldives ties came under strain under Yameen who was perceived to be close to China. Some decisions by Yameen including imposition of restrictions on work visas for Indians and signing of a new Free Trade Agreement with Beijing also did not go down well with New Delhi.

    Relations between India and the Maldives deteriorated further after Yameen imposed emergency on February 5 this year. India had criticised his decision and asked his government to restore the credibility of the electoral and political process by releasing political prisoners. The emergency lasted for 45 days.