New Delhi: Mansukh Mandaviya, the new Union Health Minister, is in earnest and wants to make public healthcare machinery well oiled so that he measures up to PM Modi’s huge expectations from him. He has launched himself by his surprise visit to a Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) dispensary concealing his identity. He has come in spotlight but given the enormous amount of work awaiting him, he will have to go way beyond pep talk and occasional surprise detours.
Camouflaged as a regular patient, he chanced upon a doctor in the dispensary who mighty impressed the minister by his compassion and sense of duty. So much so that Mr Mandaviya showcased him as role model and wished him to be emulated by all health workers and sundry in the country. One wonders how Mr Mandaviya would have reacted had he confronted a doctor behaving otherwise.
It is no breaking news that Mr Mansukh means business. His workaholic image is well known. He faces the daunting task of replicating his super PMBJP (Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana) success in PMJAY(Pradhann Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana also called Ayushman Bharat)as well. In new avatar his moves will be closely watched in public lens.
Regular patients do not have such smooth ride as Mr Mansukh might have got the impression from this surprise visit to the dispensary. He may have failed to read the room but he seems quite happy to start off on a positive note because positivity is what drives Mansukh Mandaviya. It is a harsh reality that things are not honky dory in public healthcare system and, if he wants to be successful as a health minister and wants to keep up his reputation as a game changer, he needs to face the truth bullet.
Some are looking at the event as made up but, as officers working around him would vouch, Mr Mansukh’s sense of commitment is complete which has already been evidenced by his sterling performance in Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP). They say Mr Mandaviya is far from antics.
Doctor on duty is some Dr Arvind Kumar. Mr Mansukh found him polite, compassionate and dutiful despite the fact that he was totally unaware that the patient he was seeing was not an ordinary patient but Union Health Minster himself. Mr Mansukh underlined that nation would need such committed doctors and health workers to make PM Modi’s vision of healthy India a reality. Mandaviya wrote a letter of appreciation in glowing terms to the said doctor and called him to felicitate in the ministry. In a tweet, Mr Mandaviya wrote‘To test the system of CGHS service, I went to a dispensary in Delhi as a normal patient. I am glad that the doctor working there, Arvind Kumar ji’s devotion to duty and his sense of service is inspiring. I appreciate his dedication towards his work.
