Tamil Nadu: Niti Aayog Member enthuses medical students to join academics to overcome faculty shortage

Chennai: Niti Aayog, Member,(Health and Nutrition), Dr Vinod K Paul in his inaugural address at the 26th convocation of Sri Ramachandra University gave a call to medical graduates, to join academics to meet up to the otherwise gaping shortage of faculty, doctors, specialists and researchers in the country. He called upon state governments to sanction at least 8 percent of their total budget to the health sector in place of the present 4.5 percent or 5 percent to provide comprehensive primary health care to all.

"I urge you to join academics. We are short of faculty in our medical colleges and the new AIIMS. Hundreds of job opportunities are available to you to take.

Hundreds more will emerge in years to come. Help the country to meet the requirements of doctors, specialists and researchers, which in turn needs teachers," he told graduates.

He showered words of praise on the Tamil Nau for increasing life expectancy of its people. "We have clocked life expectancy of Indians to 68 years. Tamil Nadu has higher life expectancy than the national average with 72 years," the Niti Aayog member said. He gave away 83 gold medals to meritorious students and certificates to over 770 students at the convocation ceremony.

"Your salaries as teachers may not be very high, yet enough for your needs, but you would have immense inner satisfaction as you shape the future of India's health profession and the health system," Dr Paul stated, reports TOI.

He was referring to the paucity of staff in medical institutions with the coming up initiative of the government to set up AIIMS in all states of the country.