TALES OF TRAVESTY
DR. JITENDRA SINGH
Two Government Medical Colleges already functional in Jammu and Srinagar each respectively. One Government Medical Institute at Soura. Another Medical College, in private sector, at Jammu. Four additional Government Medical Colleges for Baramulla, Anantnag, Kathua and Doda announced by the Union Healthy Ministry. Nearly half a dozen more Government Medical Colleges demanded by State lesiglators for their respective constituencies.
In other words, a relatively small State like Jammu & Kashmir, with a population of barely 1.25 crore, is upbeat with the prospect of soon having atleast one dozen Medical Colleges… thus, in other words, one Medical College catering to a population segment of around ten lakh each.
Long many years ago, when the concept of ‘‘Bare foot’’ doctors was muted, the idea was to bring medical help to the door step of even those who had little access to it. And now, the government seems to have further innovated the concept to bring the entire Medical College itself to the doorstep of its citizens. Some years ago, the present Union Health Minister had hit upon a novel idea of introducing a three year course to turn out doctors for serving in rural areas. Thank God, the idea failed to catch the fancy of its takers or else, the three-year degree Doctors would have been seen experimenting with the health of rural folk.
Way back in 1970s, Dr Ramachandran, the then Indian Medical Association (IMA) chief had bemoaned, ‘‘Every year, India produces hundreds of medical graduates…. but hardly any doctors’’. Today, over three decades later, the number of medical graduates passing out every year has multiplied manifold while the number of ‘‘doctors’’ among them might have rather come down. The question thereof is… What is the best way to improve the health status of a nation? To increase the number of Medical Colleges and dole out degrees? Or, to raise the quality of health professionals and the standard of health delivery system ?
With the Government Medical Colleges being sanctioned in bulk as populist freebies and on the other hand, private medical colleges mushrooming at unbridled pace, one baffles to think where this phenomenon is going to land the nation and its health. Added to this is the worrisome prospect of lesser and lesser number of young promising superspecialist doctors preferring to go for a teaching job in a medical college because of more lucrative options coming up of late in the private/corporate sector.
The question is… can a nation that dreams of becoming a world power by 2020, afford to treat the health sector so nonchalantly ? For the well being of common man, the yearning is for health-aid at doorstep with a medical professional serving as a massanger of Almighty’s divine remedy, a La Iqbal, ‘‘….Sikhlayi Farishton Ko Adam Ki Tarap Usne….’’. And yes, for an ordinary Umapathy, an ill-equipped Medical College at door step is nothing more than a building of concrete and cement that sans medical aid. !
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