Bihar Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav To NDTV: Agenda Is Clean Hospitals, Doctors For All

New Delhi: Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav on the NDTV-Dettol Banega Swasth India 12-hour telethon spoke about the agenda of the new government in the state, which has been fighting for five crucial things – ‘dawai, padhai, kamai, sachai and sunwai’. Joining NDTV’s Prannoy Roy and Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan, Mr Yadav said,

The fight of the new government has been from the beginning for dawai, padhai, kamai, sachai and sunwai. We want to ensure whenever someone goes to the hospital for treatment, they get cleaner environment within the hospitals and get free medicines and treatment. No one should be denied the treatment and everyone is able to access the services.

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Sharing examples of how the state is fixing the healthcare gaps, Mr Yadav said,

Bihar is a poor state and we all know that. To fix the gaps within the medical healthcare system, we have called all officials and medical officials and have given them the target of 60 days. Many a times, people from Bihar are referred to Patna as hospitals tell them that they cannot be treated there. We are in process of fixing that as well and reduce the load from Patna, when it comes to medical healthcare. Moreover, we have got files of doctors who have been absent from duty from the last 12 years. Now, we have changed the policy and if the doctor is absent for 6 months and is not present for duty then the officials are given the authority to take action against them. Because of these recent actions, we have ensured the availability of doctors and nurses in the hospitals.

On the telethon, Mr Yadav also said that Bihar government is working on to build medical college in every district of Bihar so that there are more doctors and nurses available in the state.

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NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.