Developing medical system should be the priority

India is at the crossroads, staring at a bleak future due to outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic. There are many lessons to learn and it's time to take some tough decisions to bring back the economy on track and inculcate faith in the people.

The foremost area which needs to be prioritised is our entire medical system so that basic medical care reaches the nook and corner of the country as every time we cannot rely on a lockdown whenever there is a pandemic.

Many people in our rural areas, particularly the children, are more vulnerable to malnutrition and diseases like malaria, dengue and fluorosis. This is very disturbing and needs to be addressed by implementing a robust medical policy across the country on top priority.

The right approach will help in making our children more immune to killer viruses in future and contribute to the growth of economy by keeping our future generation healthy as rightly said by Winston Churchill "Healthy citizens are the greatest asset any country can have".

Additionally, Covid-19 positive cases which are now increasing in major metros and cities across country indicate the perils of mindless urbanisation. The concentration on developing urban areas attracting more people to migrate to metros resulting in squeezing of living spaces is quite alarming.

Priority should be given to the development of the mofussil towns and villages by starting industries and manufacturing units by encouraging rural youth to take up active part in setting up of agri based, food processing and other ancillary industries on larger scale by providing sufficient infrastructure and financial assistance by governments.

By giving equal importance to the development of rural areas, we can improve our economy and also generate more employment to the labour and other local skilled as well as semi-skilled workers as a result the problem of migrant labour during crisis situations which is posing a serious challenge to all governments can also be solved easily.

Pradeep Kumar K

Human Resources Professional, Hyderabad