IIM Indore recently hosted Mr. Shatrughan Sinha, former Union Minister of Health at its campus. He visited the institute to discuss the prospects of health management and health consultancy.  An alumnus of Film and Television Institute of India, Pune (FTII) and an eminent actor in Bollywood, he is famous for being the first  person from the film fraternity to hold a berth in the Cabinet ministry.

Mr. Sinha started his talk with the focus on why he got into politics after being successful in films. He was of the opinion that politics is not the last refuge of scoundrels, by supporting it with a quote from Plato “Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber”.

In his view the main problems India is facing are those of increasing population, corruption and unemployment. Health and education are two sectors which India must take priority for development of the country. India has the highest number of people affected with cancer, tuberculosis, diabetes, heart diseases etc. India also has one of the highest infant mortality rates.

Though the average life expectancy has considerably increased post independence, due to the developments made in the medical field. But most of these benefits are available to the urban population. India still being an agrarian society where over seventy percent of the population still lives in the rural region, proper medical facilities need to be given to them too for eradicating many diseases.

Mr. Sinha was instrumental in starting the anti-tobacco campaign, when he was the minister for health. He felt that by the end of 2020, the greatest killer of life would be tobacco. He urged everyone to quit smoking as it not only kills the smoker but also harms the people around him or her. He himself has quit smoking after learning of its ill effects.

Mr. Sinha felt that it is time to sensitize the corporates about the health scenario, and coordinate with both the centre and state governments to improve it. He promised to offer help in any kind to find solutions that are plaguing the health sector in India.

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