Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh on Sunday said that the government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi is committed to providing affordable healthcare and that a series of steps have been taken in this direction over the last 10 years.

Addressing a “Doctors’ Sammelan” organised by the BJP here, Dr Jitendra Singh, who was the chief guest on the occasion, highlighted the Ayushman Bharat insurance scheme as a distinct example. Stressing the uniqueness of the scheme globally, he said that it provides insurance coverage even for pre-existing diseases.

Ashok Koul, the organising secretary of the BJP, presided over the function. He explained about the party’s campaign to gather inputs from different groups of professionals for consideration while making the party manifesto for the coming election.

Dr Jitendra Singh said that to provide more accessibility to government sector medical colleges for affordable medical education, the number of MBBS seats has been increased by 79% from 51,348 to 91,927, while the MD seats went up by 93% from 31,185 to 60,202 in less than 10 years. In a quantum jump, Dr Jitendra Singh said, from 145 government medical colleges in 2014, India now has 260 such colleges, while the number of AIIMS in the country went up to 23 in 10 years.

Talking about India’s vaccination programme, Dr Jitendra Singh stated that India has emerged as a world leader in protective healthcare. Earlier, the country wasn’t taken seriously as a healthcare provider, he noted.

The Minister commended Prime Minister Narendra Modi for freeing the healthcare sector from constraints and doing away with obsolete regulations, adding that a more enabling milieu has been created.

The Minister spoke about incorporating telemedicine provision in mobile clinics on the pattern of Doctors on Wheels facility. He called for an integrated health management protocol to add value to delivering medical services in far-flung areas.

Dr Jitendra Singh also spoke about the latest tools of medical practice like artificial intelligence, quantum therapies, etc. and shared his experiences regarding the same. He also spoke about integrating clinical medicine with deep technology for drawing maximum outcomes.

He said that the priority in the next two decades has to be preventive healthcare so that the energy and well-being of youth may be channelised to the maximum extent in realising Modi’s vision for 2047 India.