Education-treatment out of reach of common people

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat expressed concern over the rising cost and inaccessibility of health care and education in India. After inaugurating the Madhav Srishti Arogya Kendra set up by Guruji Seva Nyas, an organisation for affordable cancer treatment, Bhagwat said that today both education and health have become out of reach of common people. Earlier both these works were done as service, but today man’s thinking has made it commercial. Highlighting the difference in cancer treatment facilities, Bhagwat said that advanced care is available only in eight to ten Indian cities. He said that patients are forced to spend huge amounts of money and travel long distances for treatment. Health care should not be a cause of worry. Recalling an incident from his childhood, Bhagwat said that when I got malaria and did not go to school for three days, my teacher came home with wild herbs to treat me. He wanted his student to be healthy. This kind of personalised care is what society needs again.” Bhagwat also cautioned against blindly applying Western medical research to Indian conditions and said different people benefit from different systems, be it naturopathy, homeopathy or allopathy. He said no one method can be supreme. Indian medical systems treat based on individual needs. Comparing healthcare, Bhagwat said students in many areas still need to travel far for quality education. He also dismissed technical and formal terms like corporate social responsibility (CSR), Bhagwat said we have a word called ‘dharma’ in the context of service.