FreeLists / lit-ideas / [lit-ideas] Re: India and doctors

["Andreas Ramos" <andreas@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

This dispute started while I was there. The doctors and medical students went on strike. One 
day, we went by the hospital to get to the pharmacy for some pills (if you travel to India, 
you get sick); it was very crowded. Most of the doctors were gone.

The strike is over the quota system for studies. The govt. wants to increase the admissions 
quota for low-caste students.

This means that qualified students will be rejected in favor of others who are lesser 
qualified.

It's a very big issue, and it occupied the front pages for many days. One day, the police 
did a baton charge (lathicharge) on a group of peacefully protesting students and this was 
shown on TV, which provoked strong reaction against the police.

India from 1950 to 1991 used many laws to restrict growth and business. Nehru built the IITs 
(India Institute of Technology), which are one of the leading engineering schools in the 
world. But with the lack of industry and little opportunity, many of those graduates went to 
the USA and Canada. India basically subsidized the education for the USA. In the early 90s, 
Manmohan Singh, then Minister of Finance (and currently the Prime Minister) changed the laws 
for technology companies, which created the current boom. Since then, India has been 
building a hi-tech infrastructure at a furious pace.

Much of this is being done by those IIT graduates who are returning to India. They became 
extremely wealthy in Silicon Valley (many of them are now billionaires. They started or 
funded many of the large SV corps, incl. SUN, Google, etc.) so they are using their 
connections and money to build more companies. India has a large pool of highly-educated 
technical workers.

As for immigration (foreigners coming to India), I think this is so small now that there's 
not much of an issue.

Bangalore, the hi-tech capital of India, has 7 million inhabitants and only 15,000 
foreigners. That's 0.2%. In Bangalore, you rarely see a non-Indian. Maybe one or two if you 
go to MG Road, the main tourist area. At Cubbon Park on Sunday (300-acre city park) or the 
City Market (very crowded, tens of thousands of people), I never saw a foreigner of any 
kind: Chinese, Japanese, African, European, etc..

I was also in Mysore (700K people), a very popular tourist destination, and I saw zero 
non-Indians. There were thousands of people at the palace, the temple, etc., but I never saw 
a non-Indian. In the evening, I went to a cultural event, where there were perhaps 30,000 
people. I was perhaps the only non-Indian.

In Mysore, I was chatting with some people (Indians are extremely friendly and easy to talk 
with). After a while, one asked if I was Indian. I smiled and said no, I was from 
California. Then he asked if I was a Red Indian.

The "non-Indians" they see are NRIs: Non-Resident Indians. Indians who are born outside of 
India are NRI; they can get a passport and don't need a visa. They are "Foreign-born 
Indians". They are the children of Indians who came to the USA and Canada in the 60s and 
70s. Many don't speak Hindi or know much about India. With my five words of Hindi, I know 
more Hindi than several NRIs whom I know (and don't ask which words I know. It causes great 
hilarity among Indians.)

So the people in Mysore, who never see foreigners, assumed that I was a NRI. Who else comes 
there?

I hardly can imagine that low-status (or low-income) people will ever go to India to work. 
They would have to compete with Indians for jobs, and jobs at the low levels have very low 
rates. You can hire an well-educated engineer for $300/month. An office assistant is 
$100/month. Jobs in non-office work, such as construction, farming, etc., pay much less than 
that. A flight from the USA to India is $1,400 or so, which is several multiples of what the 
working class earns in a year.

yrs,
andreas
www.andreas.com


----- Original Message ----- 
From: <Eternitytime1@xxxxxxx>
To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, May 30, 2006 9:31 PM
Subject: [lit-ideas] India and doctors


> Hi,
> Well, for those of us who were thinking that India was the new  'land of the
> free and home of the brave', oh, well.
>
> Too bad, so sad. Obviously, those in the lower castes in India  are still
> dealing with discrimination...
>
> Either that, or maybe physicians in India are living in lack and  limitation
> and afraid that there will not be enough illness to go around?
>
> Or is it the same everywhere--oppression rules and if you  are not exactly
> like me (or of my caste), you are simply not welcome in my  profession.
>
> How does India handle immigration, I wonder?  Are they okay  with it as long
> as you are of the same 'caste'?
>
> Best,
> Marlena in Missouri
>
>
>
>
> India threatens  to fire hundreds of docs
>
>
>
> By NEELESH MISRA, Associated Press WriterTue  May 30, 7:43 PM ET
>
>
> India's government threatened Tuesday to fire hundreds of government doctors
> striking to protest an affirmative action plan for low-caste Hindus and said
> replacements would prop up crippled medical services.
> The Supreme Court warned doctors to end their two-week strike, saying
> patients were "at the mercy of God."
> Along with the doctors, tens of thousands of medical students and young
> software programmers, engineers and bankers have protested the plan to increase
> places reserved for low-caste Hindus and ethnic minorities in colleges and
> certain professions.
> On Tuesday, doctors and medical students blocked traffic in a handful of
> cities across India. Protesters in the western city of Ahmadabad briefly
> scuffled with police, while in northern Chandigarh, doctors squatted on railroad
> tracks before being forcibly removed. In eastern Gauhati, more than 500 medical
> students and interns staged a protest at the city's largest hospital but did
> not  disrupt it.
> Dozens of doctors and students also have gone on hunger strikes.
> The government's plan would increase the quota for low-caste students in
> state-funded medical, engineering and other professional colleges from 22.5
> percent to 49.5 percent.
> Backers say the policy would help undo centuries of oppression and continuing
> discrimination. Hinduism divides people into various castes and, while the
> system has been officially outlawed, discrimination remains common.
> Critics say the lower castes should be strengthened through education rather
> than an increase in the number of study and work opportunities, because many
> jobs and school spots already reserved for low castes remain empty.
> The strike has crippled health services at government hospitals in several
> cities. Senior doctors have been running emergency services in the hospitals,
> but day-to-day services have been severely hampered. Many poor patients are
> being forced to go to expensive private hospitals.
> The government will begin hiring new doctors on Wednesday, Federal Health
> Minister Anbumani Ramadoss said after the protesters defied calls by Prime
> Minister Manmohan Singh and the court to end the strike.
> "We have been issuing deadlines for two weeks ... their attitude is
> unreasonable. If they don't join work, their services will be terminated,"  
> Ramadoss
> told reporters.
> He said retired doctors and physicians from the army and the massive railway
> system, which has its own medical corps, would step in to ease shortages at
> hospitals and clinics.
> Striking doctors would not be paid, he said.
> "Doctors have a right to expression, but not during duty hours," Ramadoss
> said after a meeting with the prime minister.
> "Services have to be maintained, come what may," he quoted Singh as saying at
> the meeting.


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