AHMEDABAD: In the country, there is one doctor for every 1,538 persons, but Gujarat which boasts of one of best facilities has a doctor for every
2,346 people.
What’s more, it is not just Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh that beat state when it comes to number of medical seats, but even a tiny union territory of Pondicherry has 1,175 seats, just a couple of hundred less than 1,505 seats of Gujarat!
This is reflected in infant and maternal mortality rates in Gujarat which are far higher than most states. In times of rapid industrial investment, on Saturday, as powerful and brilliant minds of medical fraternity meet to celebrate platinum jubilee celebrations of Medical Council of India amid participation from top politicians, including Narendra Modi, they would do well to mull upon this poor medical education infrastructure in state.
Annually, nearly 500 students from state pack their bags off to other states with rich medical education infrastructure draining a revenue of 300 crore to other states. Many students are reported to pay a donation upwards of Rs 25 lakh.
- State’s spending on a medical students – Rs 40 lakh
- Fee charged by the government- Rs 30,000
No wonder, limited number of doctors do not want to work in rural areas and prefer practising in cities forcing government to launch schemes like Chiranjeevi where the government pays private doctors to do institutionalise deliveries and decrease Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) and Infant Mortality Rate (IMR).
