Govt has big plans for para-medical training:Hota

New Delhi, Oct 6 (UNI) The Government is working on a plan to use nurses and para-medical professionals in the primary health care sector, for which doctors are difficult to find, Secretary in the Health Ministry P K Hota said today.

Delivering the valedictory address at the three-day International Congress and Exposition on Trade in Services, organised by the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) here, Mr Hota said the medical sector comprises many sectors in itself, and is not restricted to speciality and super-speciality domains.

He said, somehow doctors and super-specialists have not done justice to the nurses and other para-medical staff who contribute to their success. ''Super-specialists have not done justice to nurses'', the Health Secretary said.

The Government has asked the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences in Chandigarh to upgrade its nursing courses to full-fledged National Institute of Para Medical and bring it at par with the university, Mr Hota said.

Underscoring the importance of the primary health-care and role played by the nursing staff, the Health Secretary said the government would try and forge international collaborations in this area.

A few proposals including one from Dubai for setting up the US-accredited training facility at Bangalore, were pending in the government. Some of these projects are so ambitious in size that they are facing resistance from bureaucrats.

Commerce Secretary G K Pillai said in his address, that despite the SEZ Act being unique, there are demands for changes. '' This is because changes in the industry are taking place so fast that we in the government are not able to keep pace'', he said.

Mr Pillai called for domestic reforms in education and wondered why the private colleges should not be given the flexibility in designing their syllabus and fee structure. ''Business needs to invest in education so that it achieves global standards'', the Commerce Secretary said.

Earlier, detailed presentations were made about the three-day deliberations on sectors like health, education, science and technology,engineering and consultancy.

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