Neglect of Primary Health Care and Education in India: reasons for its backwardness DIVYANSHU VERMA UPSC Preparation Mon, Feb 07, 2022, at ,08:32 PM Healthcare and education are the basic essentials of a flourishing democracy and a nation whose citizens are gifted with active governance that focuses on both of these elements; sets forward with much pace and zest. On the other hand, a lack of good governance and political will in a country leads to deterioration in its citizens’ health and education facilities, and it lags behind in all aspects of development.Education has always been a medium to involve and upgrade the new generation about the developing changes that keep on evolving through time. Many ancient philosophers like Aristotle, Russoue, Locke and Plato have also emphasized upon the importance of education in maintaining stability and ensuring growth of a state.Similarly, Primary Health Care (PHC) is also the rudimentary component of a healthy and prosperous society. It does not only include a number of people but a comprehensive mode of inclusion is taken by a specific government to salvage the need of proper healthcare of its people. Article 25 of Universal Declaration of Human Rights, PHC is an integral unit of social justice and equity. Aricle 21 of Indian Constitution incorporates healthcare under right to life.Amartya Sen, in his book, ‘Poverty and income distribution in India’ says that freedom depends on economic capacity. And in order to develop economic capacity, the government’s role must be to fucus on the quality education and universal healthcare. However, in India, PHC and education have always been deemed as to have least importance in comparison to other socially constructed important state affairs, because it has no immediate results and requires long term political vision. Although, both sectors have shown some signs of improvements, still their overall performance has been poor even after 70 years of Independence. Less than 5% of expenditure in these sectors for more than 1.3 billion of people is a ridiculously insufficient amount of fund and expectation of high-end return in terms of quality seems as a vague and immature dream.PRIMARY HEALTHCARE SYSTEM OF INDIAIndia ranked 65th position among 195 countries on the Global Healthcare Index in 2021 and still continues to be the largest contributor to the Global burden of the non-communicable diseases. Some southern states of India have improved their sex ratio, life expectancy, infant mortality rate but a vast number of people living in northern states of India are still living in a miserable condition with minimal approach to basic healthcare facilities and support. Things are improving, but mere survival is certainly not enough to achieve the full potential of the nation. Government has to first address the alarming issue of the shortage of doctors and lack of proper medical infrastructure, especially in the rural areas. In 2005, The Lancet journal reported that for every 10,000 people, India had 10 doctors in urban areas but only one in rural areas. Surprisingly, not much have changed over the past years. Lancet report of 2018 stated that though there was an increase in the number of health facilities in rural areas in the previous decade, yet getting enough doctors to work in villages remained an alarming challenge for India. Healthcare needs to be re-evaluated, and immediate reforms and concrete steps of improvement need to be taken. Community development, skill up-gradation, capacity development, capacity reinvigoration, and eliminating the scope of practice for unqualified practitioners or ‘quacks’ are some of the focus areas for boosting the healthcare sector. The government mainly focuses on increasing the number of MBBS graduates to fill in the lacunae of doctors in the healthcare system but in reality’ a lot of graduates, after spending a hefty sum of money on their long training period of 5 years, try to practice privately which is more profitable, especially in big cities. The government should have a 3-year mediatory course, not for doctors but for certain physicians and advanced nurses who will be authorised to run a certain kind of healthcare centres in the absence of doctors in the rural areas. There is also a need for a medical curriculum that is adequately oriented to primary care and community health; and a healthcare system and policy environment that gives the poorest of the citizens their due.CONDITION OF EDUCATION INDIALiteracy rate of India has significantly improved in the course of past 70 years but still the eligibility criteria for being classified as a literate person is limited to one’s ability to write his/her name in one of the 22 official languages of our country. Therefore, it is being observed with frequent surveys in recent years that the basic academic ability of a student even after being literate is consequently very less to that expected in reality. One of the main reasons for this phenomenon might be the system of rote learning in Indian education culture. Under the Right to Education Act, there has been various clauses which has tremendous potential of uplifting the quality of education provided, but they have been greatly neglected over these past years. Even after witnessing three National Education policies, which were never implement in their true spirit, India has continued British legacy of three phase education system. Proper training of the hired teachers should be considered as the most important part of a robust education system.Recent National Education policy 2020 has been blessed with certain clause which tends to change the pattern of education and also involves the advanced training for teachers with evolving use of technology. However, proper implementation of the policy is yet to be seen in the education system. Education needs more champions than health and environmental advocates because it is one rising tide that can lift all the boats. Since education has more room for innovation than any other development sector, it holds a unique opportunity for social entrepreneurs. The curriculum and teaching practices need to be transformed to focus less on rote learning or straightforward calculation and more on relevant skills, like communication, reasoning ability, problem-solving ability, and critical and independent thinking.Adequate resources, higher standards for teachers and the flushing out of corruption must be parts of a comprehensive reform package seeking to make education the nation’s top priority.