JAIPUR: While talking about ‘Urban India and Rural Bharat’ divide, vice-president Venkaiah Naidu on Monday expressed the need to make it mandatory for MBBS graduates to serve in rural areas before granting them the first promotion. He was delivering the 3rd convocation address of Mahatma Gandhi University of Medical Sciences & Technology in Jaipur on Tuesday.“One of the ways to overcome shortage of doctors, particularly in rural areas is to make it mandatory for MBBS graduates to serve in rural areas before granting the first promotion to them,” he said. He urged that the private sector needs to supplement the efforts of the government, especially in bridging the urban-rural divide. “An area of concern that needs to be addressed is the lopsided infrastructure development in the health sector. Although PHCs, taluk hospitals, and district hospitals are catering to the health requirements of the rural people, much more needs to be done to provide state-of-the-art healthcare facilities in the rural and remote areas on par with the modern hospitals in urban areas,” he said.He said that doctor’s concern, affection towards the patient is equally important. He reminded the students that they were members of a noble profession and asked them to always remain committed to upholding the Hippocratic Oath . “Maintain the highest standards of ethics and integrity at every stage,” he told the graduating students. He also appealed to the medical universities to introduce teachings in human values as a part of the curriculum to inculcate moral, social and ethical values in students.Stating that education laid the foundation for the progress of a nation, the Naidu said that the right kind of education would inculcate citizenship values, liberate people from ignorance, empower them with knowledge, information, skills and equip them to take up new roles and responsibilities to shape not only their own destinies but also the destiny of the nation. Speaking of the affordability of medical care, Naidu said that medical costs were mostly met out-of-pocket by the people in India. He expressed deep concern over the debt trap into which impoverished patients get into due to medical treatments.“In the convocation, 166 doctors were provided with their degrees. These new doctors will provide services to the patients and serve the society,” said Dr M L Swarnkar, chairman of the medical college and hospital.

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