President Murmu Urges AIIMS Bilaspur Graduates to Carry Healthcare to Himachal’s Remote Hills
BILASPUR: President Droupadi Murmu on Tuesday urged the first graduating batch of AIIMS Bilaspur to make compassion and public service the defining features of their medical careers, stressing that the institute carries a special responsibility to take quality healthcare to Himachal Pradesh’s remote and difficult terrain.
Addressing the first convocation of AIIMS Bilaspur, President Murmu said the graduating students were not merely receiving degrees but were becoming the first ambassadors of the institution’s reputation and legacy.
“You are the first batch of students to graduate from this institution. The first impression lasts long,” she said, adding that the conduct, hard work and commitment of the inaugural batch would influence generations of students who follow.
Murmu said the first batch therefore had a dual responsibility—to build their own professional reputation and establish the credibility of AIIMS Bilaspur.
“Your conduct and work should enhance the name of this institution. You should become role models for future students,” she said.
Calling Bilaspur a land of soldiers, the President paid tribute to the people of the region who had served in the armed forces and protected the country’s security, integrity and sovereignty. She also paid homage to soldiers who had made the supreme sacrifice.
Addressing the newly qualified doctors, Murmu said medicine was fundamentally a profession of service to humanity.
She recalled the deep respect traditionally accorded to doctors and teachers in Indian society and said education remained a key driver of national development, while good health was essential for individuals and society to progress.
But medical knowledge and technical skill alone, she said, were not enough.
“When a sick person comes to a doctor, they come with fear, uncertainty and hope,” Murmu said. “Your knowledge identifies the disease and your skill treats it, but your sensitivity and compassionate behaviour gives courage to the patient.”
She urged the young doctors to combine professional excellence with empathy and compassion.
The President also made a direct appeal to the graduates to serve in remote and difficult parts of Himachal Pradesh, rather than limiting their careers to urban centres.
She said doctors often hesitate to work in areas located far from cities and surrounded by difficult terrain, but expressed confidence that the AIIMS Bilaspur graduates would not shy away from serving such communities.
“You have chosen this profession not merely for economic advancement. There is a spirit of service behind it,” she said, urging the doctors to spend at least some period of their careers serving people in remote areas.
Murmu emphasised that “service itself is the reward”, saying economic advancement may remain confined to material gains, while the satisfaction derived from serving people remains with a person.
She also suggested that institutional use of social-media platforms could help disseminate reliable health information and protect people in remote areas from incomplete or misleading information.
The President said AIIMS had acquired a reputation for providing quality medical treatment at comparatively affordable costs and that the expansion of AIIMS institutions across the country was aimed at enabling more people to access specialised healthcare while providing meritorious students opportunities for high-quality medical education.
Citing the performance of AIIMS Bilaspur, she said around 12 lakh outpatients and more than one lakh inpatients had received treatment at the institute in the past three years.
However, she said the institute’s geographical location created an additional responsibility.
“Reaching quality healthcare on time to the population living in the remote areas of Himachal Pradesh is a multidimensional challenge,” Murmu said.
She called for AIIMS Bilaspur to emerge as an advanced, rapid and modern healthcare centre, while strengthening telemedicine, specialist consultations for remote areas, training of healthcare personnel and the use of latest technologies to improve healthcare delivery in the hill state.
The President said she was confident that the institution’s policymakers, administrators, faculty and doctors would continue working towards meeting these challenges.
Her remarks put a larger question before the young institution: whether AIIMS Bilaspur can translate its rapid institutional growth into a sustained healthcare presence across Himachal’s difficult and underserved mountain regions.
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