Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said medical education in Tamil Nadu should be taught in Tamil language as there is a definite need to strengthen it.
Sitharaman said this while addressing the 35th Annual Convocation of Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University here.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)
On the occasion, he said that the country is ‘better positioned’ to face the COVID-19 surge that was witnessed in countries like China, Japan and Korea.
“I am saying this here in Tamil Nadu in front of the Health Minister (Ma Subramanian). There is definitely a need to strengthen medical education. We need to establish medical education well and I think it can be achieved to a great extent if medical education can be taught in Tamil (language).”
The Union Minister said that if medical and other related subjects are taught in Tamil then there are opportunities for the students to be in a better position.
“Medical education should be taught in Tamil where people of the state love their language. Medical education is not related to doctors, it can be other subjects like nursing or dentist. It is better for us if it is available in Tamil language. There are possibilities to take the research work forward,” she said.
The Finance Minister also clarified that he is not against the English language. She said, “I have studied here (in Tamil Nadu) and I can say that it would be better for all of us to study in Tamil as there is an opportunity for progress.”
“I don’t expect any protest from Tamil Nadu as I am saying this in Tamil Nadu and in the presence of the Medical Education Minister,” she said.
Sitharaman said the country is better positioned in the context of the latest COVID-19 surge in China India Successfully carried out its vaccination program against the pandemic.
Addressing the graduates, he said, “Today when we see a rise again in China or somewhere in Japan, Korea, India is in a better position and yesterday we heard there is also a nasal vaccine available which is now authorized.”
He lauded the massive vaccination drive against COVID-19 and said that progress in vaccination is in itself a story worth repeating at every convocation of a medical university as it is the achievement of all doctors, medical students and paramedics. He said that this is the achievement of the medical fraternity.
Appealing to the fresh graduates on the occasion, Sitharaman said that they should set up hospitals in Tier-II or III places or even in their hometowns.
“We need to build hospitals at every location. The center provides various welfare schemes such as viability gap funding. Every city should have a hospital,” she said.
Praising the medical sector in a country known for ‘frugal innovation’, he said India’s pharmaceutical exports are set to grow to USD 24.6 billion in 2022 from USD 11.6 billion in 2014.
Pointing to some statistics, Sitharaman said India supplies 50 per cent of generic drugs to African countries, 40 per cent to the United States and 25 per cent of all medicines sent to the United Kingdom.
The Finance Minister said that India has also become a hub in medical tourism as it is estimated to be worth USD 9 billion, making it the 10th largest on the global map. “About two million medical tourists from 78 countries come to India every year and earn six billion dollars,” he said.
referring to the world The health organization’s Global Center for Traditional Medicine in Gujarat’s Jamnagar, he said, is poised to become a research center in the country’s medical field.
At the foundation stone laying ceremony held earlier in April, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that the center would be the first and only global outpost center for traditional medicine across the world as it emerges as an international center of global wellness.
On the occasion, 29,620 students received their degree certificates, including 7,276 medical courses, 1,893 dental, 1,519 AYUSH, 18,932 students from nursing, pharmacy, physiotherapy and occupational therapy, in the presence of Governor and Chancellor RN Ravi. Vice Chancellor Sudha Seshayan.
read all latest education news here
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)