Government has sanctioned a National Institute of Paramedical Sciences at Delhi and eight Regional Institutes of Excellence at Chandigarh, Lucknow, Bhopal, Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Bhubaneswar, Patna and Aurangabad.

Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said that the government has sanctioned a National Institute of Paramedical Sciences at Delhi and eight Regional Institutes of Excellence at Chandigarh, Lucknow, Bhopal, Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Bhubaneswar, Patna and Aurangabad. Azad, who is the president of region’s premier institute, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), presented degrees to 382 scholars at the 32nd convocation of the institute.

Touching upon a wide array of issues starting from condition of healthcare institutes to achievements of government, he said, “Despite this, there remains a huge gap between demand and supply of infrastructure and human resources, particularly in backward remote and inaccessible rural areas”. He called upon young medicos to take up assignments in the rural areas for some years to begin with. Awarding the degrees at the Bhargava auditorium of the PGI in Chandigarh, Azad said that he met UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon in New Delhi and stated that he appreciated the efforts being made to improve the country’s public health sector.

In last two years, 46 new medical colleges have been built increasing the number from 289 to 335 at present. The number of MBBS seats has been improved from 32,892 to 41,569, an increase of 8,677 seats. He said the number of Post Graduate seats has also increased from 13,000 to 22,194, an increase of over 9,000 seats in just three years, he said.(SSNS)