New Delhi: President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday (January 31) hailed the strides made in the health sector in the country in the last 10 years, noting that the number of MBBS seats has more than doubled, while 16 new AIIMS and 315 medical colleges have been established. In her address to the joint sitting of both houses, Ms Murmu said 157 nursing colleges are also being established as she lauded the work done by the Modi government.
Speaking about the benefits of the health schemes initiated by the Modi government, Ms Mumru said in addition to the Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme, the Centre is also providing free treatment in various hospitals which has helped citizens save nearly Rs 3.5 lakh crore.
Digital Health IDs of around 53 crore people have been created under the Ayushman Bharat Health Account, she said.
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Ms Murmu said the Jan Aushadhi Kendras have helped citizens save about Rs 28,000 crore on purchase of medicines. She stated,
Prices of coronary stents, knee implants and cancer medicines have also been reduced. Due to this, patients are saving approximately Rs 27,000 crore every year.
She said the government is also running a programme to provide free dialysis to kidney patients. More than 21 lakh patients are availing this facility every year which has helped patients save Rs one lakh every year. She said,
There were seven AIIMS and less than 390 medical colleges in the country till 2014, while, in the last decade 16 AIIMS and 315 medical colleges have been established. In the past decade, the number of MBBS seats has more than doubled.
She further said the PLI scheme is also benefiting the electronic, pharma, food processing and medical devices sectors. Production has started in dozens of projects related to medical devices. Ms Murmu said,
My government has also developed three bulk drug parks in the country.
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The government, she noted, has made continuous efforts to propagate the Indian traditions of Yoga, Pranayam and Ayurveda to the entire world. She added,
Last year, representatives of 135 countries did yoga together at the United Nations headquarters. This is a record in itself. My government has set-up a new Ministry for the development of Ayush. The World Health Organization’s first Global Centre for Traditional Medicine is being established in India.
President Murmu also lauded India’s increasing commitment to green energy, noting that non-fossil fuel-based energy capacity has increased from 81 gigawatts to 188 gigawatts in the last decade.
During her first address at the new Parliament building, she highlighted the global demand for eco-friendly products and underscored the government’s emphasis on the ‘Zero Effect Zero Defect’ initiative. She said,
We are now giving a lot of focus to green energy. In 10 years, non-fossil fuel-based energy capacity has increased from 81 gigawatts to 188 gigawatts.
In this period, solar power capacity has multiplied by 26 times, and wind power capacity has doubled, propelling India to the fourth position globally in renewable energy installed capacity. The country ranks fourth in wind power capacity and fifth in solar power capacity, the President said.
India has set a goal to achieve 50 percent of its electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuels by 2030, Murmu said.
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Over the past decade, 11 new solar parks have been established, with ongoing work on nine more solar parks.
President Murmu highlighted a recent initiative for solar rooftop installations which will benefit one crore families and reduce electricity bills while allowing surplus electricity to be sold in the power market.
The President commended the rapid progress in nuclear energy, with approval for 10 new nuclear power plants.
India is also advancing in Hydrogen energy, with two projects initiated in Ladakh and Daman-Diu.
Praising the government’s work in ethanol blending, Murmu noted the accomplishment of the 12 percent ethanol blending target and expressed confidence in achieving the 20 percent target soon.
This, she said, would augment farmers’ income, with government companies already procuring ethanol worth more than Rs one lakh crore.
Highlighting reduced forest and environment clearance timelines, President Murmu noted the streamlined process takes less than 75 days compared to the previous 600 days.
She said the government is also promoting green mobility in a big way and lakhs of electric vehicles have been manufactured in the country in recent years.
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(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which in its Season 10 is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Ayushmann Khurrana. 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 a world post 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 well-being, 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.
