Medical students should serve with service mentality and should have a feeling that they were not treating patients’ diseases but giving life to them, said Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi here on Sunday.
Laying the foundation for a new building complex for the Madras Medical College here on the occasion of its 175th anniversary here, the Chief Minister said medical students, when they started practising the profession, should have sympathy and compassion for their patients as their profession was a noble one to which many had made immense contribution. The State government always honoured those who had served society and it had instituted a welfare scheme for pregnant women in the State in the name of Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddy, who was the first woman doctor of the country, who graduated from the College.
Stating that the building complex was being constructed at the Old Central Jail Complex here at a cost of Rs.70 crore, the Chief Minister said it would pave the way for many new advanced medical facilities for the benefit of not only the public but also medical students. As the Central and State governments were spending a lot for healthcare, the Chief Minister wanted doctors and students to make the best use of the available medical facilities for serving society.
The Chief Minister also honoured more than 40 doctors on the occasion by conferring on them lifetime achievement awards, besides releasing a souvenir brought out on the occasion.
Health Minister M.R.K. Panneerselvam in his presidential address said the State was at the forefront in providing medical facilities to the poor and needy. Under the Chief Minister’s health insurance scheme, about 1.44 crore identification cards had been issued so far and under the Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddy scheme about 18.95 lakh pregnant women were benefited to the tune of Rs.977 crore.
Union Handlooms and Textiles Minister Dayanidhi Maran said the State was a pioneer in many welfare schemes.
V.K. Subburaj, Principal Secretary and Secretary, Health Department said the State had drawn a time-bound programme to complete the building complex.
S. Thanikachalam, president of the celebration advisory committee; S. Vinayagam, Director of Medical Education; J. Mohansundaram, dean of the college, were confident that the new complex would provide more opportunities to the medical students.
