BENGALURU: Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar assured the students at Bengaluru Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI) that the state government is committed to ensuring the safety of the doctors.
“The Karnataka government is committed to ensuring the safety of doctors. Strict measures have been taken against those who abuse or assault doctors as a result of which the number of such incidents have significantly reduced in the recent years and awareness regarding the same is increasing,” Sudhakar said on Thursday while interacting with medical students at BMCRI at the ‘Yuva Samvada’ programme.
Sudhakar had an open interaction with the students to understand their aspirations and concerns. He also made the faculty, except for the college’s dean, to leave the auditorium so that the students could talk comfortably with him. According to an official statement, the Medical Education Minister further assured the students that their concerns will be taken care of with all the measures.
When asked about the attacks on doctors by a student, the minister said that he, as the minister, has taken a lot of measures to prevent attacks on doctors. “The issue is that some families feel that the doctors are responsible for the patient’s death, while the truth is that each doctor tries his best to save the patient.”
The law allows very strict action against those who assault doctors and the government has also ensured that stringent action can be taken against these people — like the attacker can be jailed for years and a fine can also be levied upon the person in question —Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar
Sudhakar further said that in order to curb such behaviour of the people, the punishment must be publicised on social media. The government will always stand by doctors, he said. He also praised health workers for handling the “massive health crisis” during the Coronavirus pandemic.
Mentioning that medical tourism (people travelling abroad for medical treatment) is growing in India, Sudhakar stated, “Earlier, there was one doctor for 2,300 people, but now the number has improved to one doctor for 900 people. If we include AYUSH doctors as well, the number will stand at one doctor for 700 people. We have a population of 130 crore and hence, there is a need for more medical colleges.”
He also said that the government has been constructing medical colleges through the public-private partnership (PPP) model to reduce the financial burden as each college costs Rs 750 crore. Sudhakar also underscored that the state government have increased the stipend of medical professionals by 30 to 60 per cent despite the revenue crunch during the pandemic.
“Nine districts in Karnataka still lack medical colleges. We are trying to inaugurate them in Davanagere, Udupi, Kolar and Bengaluru Rural districts. However, there won’t be a decline in job opportunities in the medical field, like in engineering. More and more opportunities are coming up for doctors now. They will never face unemployment,” he said.
“All laws are formulated by the representatives elected by the people. If educated people who are willing to serve society don’t come to politics, it will cause huge problems,” he said while citing the example of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he was once a tea seller who rose to this level. “This is the beauty of democracy. More youngsters need to enter politics to create a better society,” he added. (ANI)