Healthcare sector, skill development in youth crucial for India's progress: VP

Hyderabad : Vice President of India M. Venkaiah Naidu said that the challenges in the healthcare sector continue to be daunting and formidable in our country even today.

Naidu inaugurated a medical camp and two skill development facilities CCTV network management and optic fiber technician courses and GATI drivers training institute at the Hyderabad chapter of Swarna Bharat Trust.

With the government’s expenditure not remaining commensurate with growing demands in the healthcare, the private sector has come to play a dominant role in both urban and rural areas, he said. In urban areas, only 32 per cent of the patients visit public hospitals with the rest 68 per cent preferring private hospitals. In rural areas, 42 per cent patients visit public hospitals and the rest visit private ones.

The Vice President said that there is a definite need not only to expand the infrastructure in public health sector, but also increase the budget. He said that the number of physicians available per 10,000 people, their number is grossly inadequate in India when compared to developed countries. While the number of physicians available is 20 per 10,000 people in developed countries, it is only six in India. The country needs 10.5 lakh doctors while we have only 6.5 lakh. To reach WHO norm of one doctor per 1,000, (there is one doctor per 1700 population in India) a high-level committee of NITI Aayog has recommended the setting up of 187 more medical colleges by 2022. Similarly, the number of hospital beds per 10,000 is 40 in developed countries while it is nine in India.

Venkaiah Naidu launched a skill development courses in association with L&T Smart World Communications Limited, in CCTC network management and Optical Fiber Technician Course at the Swarna Bharat Trust today.

The Vice President further said that, India is the youngest country with 65% of our population below 35 years of age. India must skill its young population not only for economic benefit but for social reasons too. India’s huge human capital has to be made more qualitative with focus on rapid growth of productive enterprises and jobs. However, growth and inclusion must go together, he said.

Specially designed training in tune with the market needs should become part of the educational system so that students who pass out find immediate employment and are not left out in the lurch. Manufacturing currently contributes about 13% to the GDP of the country and Make In India seeks to increase it to 25 per cent in the coming years to give a major push to the economy. In China, the manufacturing sector contributes about 36 per cent to the GDP. The share of manufacturing in the GDP at 13% is amongst the lowest as compared to many rapidly developing economies.

The sector as a whole has been facing shortage of skilled manpower and the efforts of the government in skilling the youth should be supplemented by the corporate sector and the industries so that the target of 25 per cent contribution to the GDP is achieved faster. This is the time when Skill India , Digital India and Make in India can work in conjunction in one ecosystem and create a new resurgent India. We have to ensure that we scale up our efforts with greater speed. He said that with proper ecosystem, India will become the world’s largest exporter of skilled manpower in the future.

Speaking on the occasion, Deputy Chief Minister Mohammad Mahmood Ali complimented the Vice-President for organizing courses for unemployed youth in the state in the Swarna Bharat Trust.

Irrigation Minister T. Harish Rao said that there was dearth of heavy vehicle drivers in the state, and the course launched in Swarna Bharat Trust today would be helpful in providing gainful employment to the youth.

Mahendra Agarwal, Managing Director & CEO, GATI Limited said that even through the road sector contributes to 60% of freight transport in India, there is a lack of skilled drivers in this sector. He said at present, there are 9 million commercial vehicles in India, and 3 lakh vehicles are being added every year. There are only 800 drivers for 1000 trucks. Emphasising the need for training heavy vehicle drivers properly, Shri Agarwal said that, India has the highest fatalities in road accidents. Therefore, skilled and trained drivers are needed, he said. He thanked Naidu for launching the course in Swarna Bharat Trust.

Subrahmanyan, CEO, L&T said that Training Courses in Installation & Maintenance of CCTVS and Maintenance of Control Rooms launched in the Swarna Bharat Trust today have a huge potential for generating employment for the youth in Telangana. He congratulated Venkaiah Naidu for providing employment to one thousand rural youth trained in Swarna Bharat Trust.