The Government as well as the corporates should work together to provide quality medicare in rural areas to enable India to reap the full advantage of its favourable demographic profile at present, according to Mr Pranab Mukherjee, the Union Finance Minister.

He was speaking at Rajam village in Srikakulam district after inaugurating the GMR Varalakshmi Care hospital on Saturday. The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, and Mr G. Mallikarjuna Rao, Chairman of the GMR group, besides several Union and State ministers participated in the event.

Mr Mukherjee said India was in a fine position, blessed with a young population at present, but quality medicare and improved skill levels were the two pre-requisites, especially in rural areas, to reap the so-called demographic dividend. Corporates should play a key role in the matter, as GMR was doing, and the example should be followed by others. He cited the examples of Bill Gates and Warren Buffet and urged the Indian corporates to emulate them.

He said healthcare should be made affordable and at the same time quality should not be compromised. “That is the big challenge before us. GMR and other corporates should really endeavour in that direction,” he added.

Mr Reddy said the AP Government had been implementing the Rajiv Arogyasree programme in the State and so far more than nine lakh operations had been performed free of cost to the poor. He said more than Rs 2,800 crore had been spent on the programme in the State so far. He complimented the GMR group for establishing the super-specialty hospital in a rural area.

Mr G. Mallikarjuna Rao, the Chairman of the group, who hails from Rajam village, spoke about the activities of the group taken up under corporate social responsibility.

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