In order to create awareness among people on the Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narenda Modi ‘s address to the nation on  the Independence Day, a webinar was organised today, by The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting’s Regional Outreach Bureau and Press Information Bureau, Chennai.

Experts from various fields explained the various schemes and policies announced by the Prime Minister. Dr. J. Sadakkadulla, Former Regional Director, RBI, Tamilnadu and Puducherry, briefed the participants about the schemes and initiatives for the financial sector. He said, “With the help of Jan Dhan banks, over 40 crore people have opened accounts and Aadhaar has helped link mobile network coverage throughout India”.

The financial sector has become truly globalised and has made the best use of technology. The various measures taken by the Government in the financial field have made it robust and friendly and has created a sense of assurance and trust among people, he said.

 “The Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) is very important for the economy of the country as around 11 crore people are employed and through the Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY), over 25 crore employers have been benefitted”, he added.

Highlighting the benefits of National Digital Health Mission, Shri.  R. Venkatesh, Senior Journalist, said, “Under this scheme all citizens will be provided a Health ID, which will contain the complete health history including every health test, disease, diagnosis, treatment and medicines taken. With the help of this health card, the patient’s history can be traced by a doctor very easily and it avoids repetition of tests and diagnosis. As the Health ID will be stored in a central server in digital format, it can be accessed from anywhere”. This scheme would integrate the entire medical fraternity including doctors, hospitals and pharmacies, he said.

In the next ten years, almost the entire citizens’ health record will be digitalised under this initiative and it will enable the physicians to closely monitor patients’ health, he added. In order to avoid hacking of health records, the Central Government has ensured that the data will be properly secured, Shri. Venkatesh said. This scheme is a step forward in the infrastructural development of Primary Health care centres, he said.

Elaborating on the One Nation-One Ration Card scheme, Shri. Venkatesh said that migrant workers will benefit more through this system. As the ration system differs in each state, the migrant workers are affected. Through this new scheme, the records of the citizens are digitalised to ensure that the workers are provided the same subsidised items that they are eligible for in their native state.

Speaking about the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana, Smt. B. Bagyalakshmi, Proprietor, Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Jan Aushadhi Kendra, Coimbatore, said that the awareness about generic drug has been widespread as the number of people has increased from 10 or 15 per day in 2017 to 100 per day in 2020. “Poor people have been the main beneficiaries especially during the pandemic situation by the use of generic drug. Medicines are available for all major health issues like diabetes, hyper tension, cancer at a lesser cost”, she added. Apart from medicines, insulin is also sold at a cheaper rate, while sanitary napkins can be purchased at the cost of 1 rupee per pad, she said.

Sharing his personal experience, Shri. Subramaniam from Kannampalayam, Coimbatore said that he has been taking medicines for hyper tension and diabetes for the past 20 years and since using generic drugs from 2017, he has saved more than Rs 1500 per month for medicines. He said that he has also created awareness among 200 people about the use of generic drugs which is more cost-effective.

Shri. J. Kamaraj, Joint Director, Regional Outreach Bureau, Chennai, briefly summarised the speech of the Honourable Prime Minister during his Independence Day address. He highlighted the Prime minister’s vision of attaining Self reliant India. He quoted Prime Minister who proudly declared that   India is  capable of providing billions of solutions to the world’s millions of challenges while   urging  the 130 crore citizens to make ‘Vocal for local’ a mantra for attaining the vision of  Self-reliant India. This is achieved by reskilling and upskilling and the new education policy stresses on Innovation and research to make India achieve the vision of Self reliance, he added. He also shared the Prime Minister’s appreciation for the farmers who helped India attain self sufficiency in Agriculture. He also spelt out the reforms brought in APMC act which increased the bargaining power of the farmers and also pointed out the new agriculture infrastructure fund worth Rs. 100000 crores reiterated by the Prime minister in his speech. He also proposed the vote of thanks.

Earlier, Shri. Gurubabu Balaraman, Director, Press Information Bureau, Chennai delivered the welcome address in which he stressed on the significance of discussing the vision of the Prime Ministers address while saying it is also a viable roadmap for making India achieve greater heights in the coming years.

Dr. J. Sadakkadulla , Former Regional Director, RBI , Tamil Nadu and Puducherry addressing in the webinar

Shri B. Gurubabu, Director, Press Information Bureau, Chennai addressing in the webinar.

Shri. Venkatesh, Senior Journalist addressing in the webinar

Smt. B. Bagyalakshmi, Proprietor M/S Pradhan Mantri Bharath Jan Aushadhi Kendra addressing in the webinar

Shri. J. Kamaraj, Joint Director, Regional Outreach Bureau, Chennai addressing in the webinar.

A A glimpse of the webinar

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