The world took lessons from india’s covid fight: VP at AIIMS

AIIMS held its 48th convocation, physically after 3 years, with Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar as chief guest. Dhankar praised India's fight against Covid-19 and urged the healthcare professionals to always put the nation first. Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya congratulated the students and emphasized the importance of making healthcare more accessible and affordable. AIIMS awarded degrees to 2,494 students and lifetime achievement awards to six professors.

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) held its 48th convocation on Monday where Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar was the chief guest. The convocation was held physically after a hiatus of three years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar presents lifetime achievement award to professor Vijaya Lakshmi Bhargava at AIIMS on Monday. (PTI)

Addressing the audience, Dhankar said that the world has watched and taken lessons from India’s fight against Covid-19, and this was possible only because of the painstaking efforts of the country’s healthcare warriors. “Always keep your nation first, this is not optional, this is not imperative, this is the only way. All of us owe it to the nation,” Dhankar said.

Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya, who also attended the convocation ceremony, congratulated the students and said that they have completed a very important innings of their lives and will be moving on to a new chapter of serving people.

“You stand at the precipice of change, as now you will be able to put into practice all that you have learnt in your education, and wherever you decide to go, remember that the nation looks at you with hope, that you will use this platform to make healthcare more accessible and affordable,” Mandaviya said.

Mandaviya added that medical colleges in the country had doubled to 107,000 now, from 48,000 in 2014. Mandaviya reflected that to plug the gaps in healthcare, ₹64,000 crore was being invested across 750 districts in India to create a more resilient healthcare system in the country.

AIIMS on Monday said that 2,494 students from the institute were awarded degrees, including 257 MBBS degrees, 358 DM degrees, 831 MD/MS/MHA/MDS degrees, 127 PhD degrees, 184 M.Ch degrees, 93 fellowships, 227 MSc degrees and 417 BSc degrees. The institute also awarded lifetime achievement awards to six professors.

Lok Sabha MP Ramesh Bidhuri, AIIMS Director M Srinivas, and several senior officials from AIIMS, and the union health ministry were part of the ceremony.