It gives me immense pleasure to be here amongst you on the occasion of laying the foundation stone for the redevelopment project of Lady Hardinge Medical College. This College, which is approaching its centenary, is, literally speaking, an institution of our capital city. Its founding, more than three decades before India’s independence, is steeped in the history of that era. It reflected not only a major step in medical education, but also in redressing the gender imbalance since it provided, for the first time, an exclusive facility for women in the field of medical education.

From modest beginnings nearly a century ago, Lady Hardinge Medical College has today evolved into a premier medical institution, providing excellent medical education to women and catering to the medical needs of large numbers of patients, especially the poor.  I sincerely hope that the augmented facilities being put into place will contribute towards the further development of the College and its connected hospitals.

Friends, the old adage about health being wealth is truer than some might think. The health indicators of our nation have a direct bearing on our overall economic well-being. I am therefore very happy to note five heartening developments in recent years.

First, recognizing the need to provide for the complex challenges in the health sector, the allocation for health has been enchanced three times in the 12th Plan as compared with the 11th Plan allocation. In addition, factors such as nutrition, drinking water, sanitation, housing and education, particularly of the girl child, are increasingly being underlined as the social determinants of health. We have therefore emphasized their importance by providing adequate thrust to these sectors in the plan allocations.

Second, we are devoting greater attention to medical education.  From one All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi, we now have six such institutions of excellence that have come up in Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Patna, Jodhpur, Raipur and Rishikesh.  I am very happy that classes for undergraduate students have already started in these institutions for the current academic year.

It is also heartening to learn that, in the last three years, the number of MBBS seats in medical colleges has increased by over 30% and the post graduate seats have gone up by 51%.  As many as 61 new medical colleges have been added, raising the total number of such institutions in the country to 362. In addition, 269 new nursing schools have been sanctioned, mostly in remote, inaccessible and under-served districts. This will go a long way in overcoming the shortage of nurses and Auxiliary Nurse Midwives.

However, the availability of trained human resources in the health sector remains a challenge.  We need to set up more nursing and medical colleges to increase both undergraduate and postgraduate seats in the 12th Plan. To give a boost to para-medical education and scale up the availability of para-medics, the Government is also setting up a National Institute of Paramedical Sciences at Delhi and eight Regional Institutes of Paramedical Sciences at Chandigarh, Lucknow, Bhopal, Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Bhubaneswar, Patna and Aurangabad. I hope that all these new institutions will pay equal attention to developing institutional governance frameworks so that they can be managed in the best way possible and deliver lasting value to society.

Third, a major urban health initiative will be launched in the 12th Five Year Plan in order to focus on the specific health issues of the urban poor.  For best results, this initiative will demand a high degree of synergy and coordination between the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, the Ministry of Urban Development and the Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation.

Fourth, the latest Sample Registration System findings have shown that India’s Infant Mortality Rate has declined by a further three points during the last one year. This is good news but we still have much to achieve on this front where we lag behind a number of other countries. I hope that efforts to bring down the IMR will continue with renewed energy and focus. If the same energy and commitment that was brought to the effort to eradicate polio from India could also be brought to reducing IMR further, our demographic indicators would certainly be much better off.

Finally, I am happy to note that free generic drugs will be made available to people through all public hospitals. This will certainly help in reducing the out of pocket expenditure of the poor on health across the country.

Friends, I have no doubt that the redevelopment of Lady Hardinge Medical College will enable our doctors and other health professionals to provide the best healthcare to our people. It will also help the College emerge as a centre for development of advanced skills and research. I am sure that present and future alumni of this great institution will continue to play a leading role in providing the nation with committed and talented lady doctors.

Let me end with an appeal to all our doctors, nurses and technical personnel to work relentlessly and sincerely in providing adequate, affordable, sensitive and quality healthcare to the people of India. The nation’s welfare depends to a very significant extent on their efforts.

Thank You.