PM talks education, health, his security blamed for death

Chandigarh, Nov 3 : On a hectic six-hour trip to the city where he once resided, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday talked of deficiencies in effective healthcare and higher education, but his tight security was blamed for contributing to the death of a young man who failed to reach the hospital in time owing to blocked traffic.

Ambala resident Sumit Prakash Verma, 32, died as over-zealous security personnel did not allow his vehicle to reach the emergency area of the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) as the prime minister had arrived there to address the 30th convocation of the premier health institute.

Verma's relatives blamed the prime minister's security for wasting over two hours of theirs, the time during which the victim, who was suffering from kidney, breathing and heart problems, died.

The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) reacted instantly in New Delhi saying: "The PMO is saddened at the death of a patient at the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research today (Tuesday) during the visit of the prime minister. A full report has been asked for."

Coming to his alma mater, the Panjab University, after many years made the prime minister feel a "little emotional". But that did not stop him from questioning the quality of higher education being imparted by institutions in the country.

Addressing faculty and students of the university where he once studied and later taught, Manmohan Singh, wearing his trademark white kurta-pyjama and a black half-jacket with light-blue turban, said: "A major problem that we face is in the quality of higher education that our institutions impart. Unfortunately, most of them produce pass-outs who are nowhere near international standards."

The prime minister was honoured by the PU with a Doctor of Law (honoris causa) at a special convocation here. Later, he laid the foundation stone of a multi-purpose auditorium and examination centre. He also met with his contemporaries in PU from his student and teaching days and also some of his own students.

The prime minister said: "In fact, one dimension of the quality deficit is the difficulty being faced in recruiting top class faculty for the new IIMs, IITs, central universities and other such institutions that the government has decided to establish in the last five years."

Earlier, addressing the 30th convocation of the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) here, the prime minister said that even though critical indicators of health had shown consistent improvement over the years, India did not compare favourably with other countries.

"It is also a fact that in the public sector today we are spending one percent of the GDP on healthcare. It has been our goal to raise it to two to three percent. Both the central and state governments have to work hard to achieve this goal.

"Our progress has been much less than what we would have liked to achieve and are capable of achieving. It also does not compare well with what a number of other countries, particularly in Southeast Asia, have achieved," he said.

"A review of the National Rural Health Mission points to the acute shortage of human resources at various levels in the health sector - specialists, doctors, nurses and paramedics. To address this deficiency, the government has taken a number of initiatives. More medical colleges and nursing schools are being established, particularly in the less developed states," he said.

The prime minister asked institutes like the PGIMER to reach out to the common man by laying emphasis on preventive healthcare as curative healthcare proved costly.

"The mission of PGI will remain incomplete unless the interest of the common man is addressed effectively and purposefully. Only when the lives of the common people, be they in Tripura or the tribal areas of Chhattisgarh, are touched by your research and the most underprivileged child in your ward goes back home satisfied with your care, will your mission be truly accomplished."