उपराज्यपाल, दिल्ली
Shri Ashwani Kumar, Dean, Professor Dr. Vinay Kumar Tiwari, Members of the faculty, parents present on the occasion and most of all dear students.
2. At the outset, I would like to extend my congratulations and good wishes to the graduating doctors and awardees of the 2016 & 2017 batch of the North DMC Medical College. It is indeed a red letter day for all present here, especially the parents and students.
3. Dear students,
The profession of a doctor is one of the most sought after profession globally. Though each year more than a million students apply for it, only a few make it through the other side.
4. You have been the scholars of one of the most difficult disciplines in the world and as you walk out of the portals of your alma mater, you will be the practitioners of one of the most difficult and yet the most gratifying and noble profession globally. As you move ahead pursuing your internships, post graduate and doctoral degrees, I would as an elder like to underline the following for you. “Those who suffer need you to be something more than a doctor, they need you to be a healer. And to become a healer, you must do something far more difficult than putting your white coats on.”
5. Young Friends,
You will be, as you move ahead, managing, treating, healing and eliminating the sufferings of human kind. Indeed you will be expected to have God like qualities, despite your being humans. As you go ahead with the healing of human beings, when they are at their most vulnerable, the first thing that you would need to inculcate and enhance is compassion. Let me tell you, that a patient hearing on your part and a gentle pat, will work as much as the drugs you would prescribe.
6. The profession that students and faculty of medicine pursue requires, life-long commitment to continuous and constant upgradation, updation and enhancement of knowledge. Practicing doctors as well as faculty, consistently need to take cognizance of latest technological advancements and cutting-edge research and innovation. At the same time, you will have to simultaneously apply these for the benefit of your patients and students. You will be committing your entire careers, if not lives, to the pursuit of knowledge. Let me tell you dear friends, this is easier said than done. However, I would like to inspire you with an oft repeated couplet…
“ कौन बताता है समुंदर का रास्ता नदी को....!
जिसे मंजिल का जूनून है वो मशवरा नहीं लेते....!!
ये आपका जूनून था जो आपको कठिन परिश्रम के बाद यहाँ तक ले आया और आगे आपका जूनून ही होगा जो आपको अपनी मंजिल तक पहुंचाएगा.
At this juncture, I would also like to quote one of our greatest philosophers, Swami Vivekanand, and I quote, “Arise, Awake and Stop not till the goal is reached”.
7. Dear Friends, Ladies & Gentlemen
Health is among the topmost priorities of the Government of India. Our way forward in the health and medicine sector is going to shape India @2047. A healthy nation is what will ensure the goal of ‘Viksit Bharat’, as envisioned by our Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi Ji.
8. While the governments at various levels are doing their best with the available resources, the impoverishing impact of health and medical expenses on the common citizen is concerning. Data suggests that as many as 4 crore people of our country slip into poverty each year due to medical expenses. However, the same, despite challenges is gradually changing.
9. Various schemes like the Ayushman Bharat, Jan Aushadhi and Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna are playing an instrumental role in correcting this anomaly. At the same time, our Doctors and other Health Professionals in the Public Health infrastructure are playing a yeomen’s role despite severe constraints and volume of patients. I take this opportunity to call upon the Medical Professionals in the Private Sector in Delhi, to come forward and contribute their own bit, by making the Health Industry think beyond just profits.
10. Ladies and Gentlemen,
India has had a long-standing tradition of serving humanity. It is rooted in our very basic cultural ethos of “सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिनः,सर्वे सन्तु निरामयाः। As a nation, we have evolved into one of the largest medical reservoirs, with about 600 medical institutions that annually provide more than 90,000 Doctors. We have a Doctor Population ratio of about 1.83 per thousand people, which is better than the WHO standard of 1:1000. However, this is no reason to be happy and complacent. The other side of the same statistics shows, grave regional disparities in these numbers. While Delhi has one Doctor for about 330 people, States like Bihar, Haryana and Jharkhand have one Doctor for around 3,300, 6,000 and 8,000 people respectively.
11. To my mind, this is an area of grave concern. While on one hand, it underlines the need to upgrade Medical Infrastructure where it is required, on the other hand, it is also indicative of increasing load of patients from such areas to places, which have better medical facilities. This also leads to a huge burden – financial as well as emotional on the already suffering patients and their families.
12. Even as we wait for an enduring solution to this problem, it should be our endeavor to help, mitigate the problems caused by such imbalances at our own levels. In this regard, I applaud North DMC Medical College under MCD, for working tirelessly in not only providing services to an estimated population of 11 million but also imparting Medical education.
13. At this juncture, I would like to turn my attention towards the recent rising trends of violence against doctors and the medical fraternity. Apart from the skirmishes between attendants of patients and doctors and hospital staffs, what we witnessed recently in Kolkata at a Medical College, makes our heads hang in shame. While at one level, this could be indicative of degenerating governance and social ethos, on another level, it requires serious introspection and concrete steps that ensure, that the guilty are brought to the book and such tragedies never happen again.
14. Dear Young Friends,
As young Physicians about to embark on a fabulous journey, you would continue to develop your clinical skills day after day and become fine Physicians, Surgeons and Teachers. On this red letter day of yours, I urge you to hold steady, your child like curiosity and amalgamate it to contribute to academia.
15. I sincerely wish that you all become Noble Doctors, who, with their clinical acumen, change the misguided perception of some patients about Health System. Never stop learning, never stop asking questions and never forget that medicine is an art as well as science practiced by doctors. You have to bring to your patients, not only technology and training but also humanity, compassion, care and concern. I have, as an elder my two bits of advise for you.
डिग्रियाँ तो पढ़ाई के खर्च की रसीदें हैं,
ज्ञान वही है जो व्यवहार दर्शाता है.
16. I would conclude with these words and once again wish the students and the Institution, Godspeed.
Jai Hind