**Bhubaneswar: ** Gracing the 1st Annual Convocation of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bhubaneswar, Vice President of India, Venkaiah Naidu, eulogised former Prime Minister late Atal Bihari Vajapayee for his vision and dubbed AIIMS, Bhubaneswar as Vajpayee’s brainchild.
Initiating his key note address in chaste Odia on the special occasion, the Vice President of India said that he loves Odisha very much as it is the land of Lord Jagannath.
Paying his heartfelt homage and rich tribute to the late Prime Minister, the Vice President said, “Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s dream of having AIIMS in different parts of country, including Bhubaneswar, to provide better health care facilities to the people has now become a dream come true.”
Recounting the day, he narrated, “During Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s Government at the Centre, I was a minister and also Naveen Babu. An idea cropped up that the patients from across India travel over to Delhi for treatment at AIIMS. It’s an uphill task. It’s expensive, time killing and also loss of life in between. Hence, a propsal came that AIIMS ought to be set up at various places in the country. Atal Bihari Vajpayeeji accorded his seal of approval and the first ever AIIMS here at Bhubaneswar was sanctioned. Today that dream has come true.”
The Vice President also advised both the Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda and Odisha Health Minister Pratap Jena, present on the dais, that it is should be made mandatory every doctor should serve at least three years in rural areas before getting promotion.
He also advised the young doctors to treat medical profession as a “mission and not as commission” (minting money).
Quoting Mahatma Gandhi and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, he said, “India is incomplete without Bharat. Real India lives in villages.”
Hailing former Prime Minister late Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s contribution towards the establishment of AIIMS in Odisha, Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in his address exhorted that a statue of Vajpayeeji should be installed at AIIMS, Bhubaneswar as a mark of honour and deep sense of indebtedness to his precious gift.
Besides the Vice President, the 1st Annual Convocation was also addressed by Odisha Governor Ganeshi Lal, Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda, Odisha Health Minister Pratap Jena while the meeting was presided over by AIIMS, Bhubaneswar Director Dr Gitanjali Batmanabane.
Earlier Vice President Venkaiah Naidu was received at the Biju Patnaik Internation Airport here by Odisha Governor Ganeshi Lal, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and other dignitaries.
The Vice President arrived today morning on his one-day visit to grace the First Annual Convocation of AIIMS here.
He gave away 24 gold medals to the MBBS graduates as well as medals to many others for commendable achievements in their respective fields.
The Vice President was earlier scheduled to attend the convocation on August 16, but his visit was rescheduled after deferment of the ceremony.
The Commissionerate Police on the occasion had put in place elaborate security arrangements as per the Blue Book guidelines.
30 platoons of police force were deployed in the capital city here for maintaining law and order.
Soon after attending the convocation, the Vice President left for New Delhi by the special flight.
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