Half fee for sagacious medical students pursuing MBBS, MD courses of poor financial background announces Health minister of Ukhand Dr.Dhan Singh Rawat

As the general elections of 2024 are nearing the Uttarakhand government has commenced making lot of announcements with the Congress party leaders already pronouncing the Uttarakhand CM as the “Ghoshna” Mukhyamantri. The state’s fiscal deficit however, has already increased to Rs 73,751 crores with the debt in the year 2022-23 estimated to be nearly Rs. Eight thousand crores. Well, announcements if implemented on the ground are good for the prosperity of the state and its people but there should also be ways and means to generate the state’s economy internally to overcome this fiscal deficit which is increasing year after year and over burdening the already overburdened state of financial constraints. Yesterday, the health minister of Uttarakhand Dhan Singh Rawat has really made the medical students especially those from the poor backgrounds but sagacious in studies extremely happy by announcing that the government of Uttarakhand will in future charge half of the admission fee from the brilliant students of lower strata of the society pursuing MBBS, MD and MS medical studies. In addition to these concessions, several other facilities were announced for the well being of students especially student incentive schemes to encourage Research and Development as in higher studies, opening of Haridwar Medical college from New Year, opening of two other medical colleges in Pithoragarh and Rudrapur in 2027 and 2026 respectively including the state having signed MOU with three countries for generating employment for 5000 nursing practitioners having passed their exams and formation of a separate cadre for specialist medical practitioners. The health minister of Uttarakhand, Dhan Singh Rawat was,the other day addressing the 6 th Convocation Ceremony of Hemvati Nandan Medical University at Srinagar , Garhwal, Uttarakhand. These announcements indeed send a new hope of optimism to the intelligent and studious medical students hailing from the poor and financially unsound families who usually remain the backbenchers due to their poor economic status. But if the government is really serious this declaration of Uttarakhand health minister will truly lead to encouraging good number of poor students pursue their goals to become doctors and surgeons in the neat future. Addressing the convocation ceremony Dr. Dhan Singh Rawat said the state government apart from giving half of the fee from its financial account for pursuing MBBS, MD and, MS, will also launch an insurance scheme for medical students which will help them meet their health related problems. While also assuring about filling three thousand vacancies of nursing posts and having signed the MOU with three countries the Health minister said that these nursing candidates will be given employment abroad as well including making of Ayushman cards of the villagers in the near future and also making the state free of drug addiction , a prevailing social evil , eating the vitals of the Himalayan state. He also said that the MBBS will now be allowed in Hindi language. Kindly recall that the author being from the same state being associated with various socio political movements and journalism for the last 35 years including the Uttarakhand movement it has been observed that mere announcements – populist in nature are made when the cudgels of state power changes hands and hardly ten percent of them are earnestly implemented with rest going in cold storage after the new chief minister comes on the scene. This game of misguiding the poor voters of the state goes on intermittently since we achieved Uttarakhand on 9 th Nov. 2000. Before every national and state assembly elections the leaders on the saddle of power make spare of populist announcements with negligible part of them fulfilled and rest going to drains. This is really disheartening to note.