Faridabad, Haryana
With 2,600 beds, 534 of which are ICU, Amrita Hospital in Faridabad will be the largest private hospital in the country. Founded on compassion and guided by science, its purpose is to practise cutting-edge medicine and make it affordable to the common people. On August 24th’s inauguration day, the Prime Minister emphasized how this profound endeavour is based upon Amma’s wish to serve he world. Below is his full address.
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My pranams to Mata Amritanandamayi Deviji, blessing us all in the form of Amrita Hospital. Salutations also to Swami Amritaswarupananda Puriji; Governor of Haryana Shri Bandaru Dattatreyaji; Chief Minister Shri Manoharlalji; my associate and Central Cabinet Minister, Shri Krishanpalji; Deputy Chief Minister of Haryana, Shri Dushyanta Chautalaji; other dignitaries and all those present.
Only recently, with a new vigour, the country has entered the Amrit Kaal (auspicious time) of Indian Independence. In this Amrit Kaal, collective efforts of our country are being recognized, collective thoughts are waking up. I am happy that in the early hours of Amrit Kaal, our country is also experiencing the ambrosia of Mata Amritanandamayi Deviji’s blessings in the form of Amrita Hospital, which is a huge institute of healthcare established in Faridabad.
This hospital is not only modern from the point of view of its building and technology, but is equally celestial too, from the point of view of service, sensitivity and spiritual consciousness. This fusion of modernity and spirituality will make it an easy and effective medium of healthcare to serve the families of poor and middle-class people. From the bottom of my heart, I express my gratitude to revered Ammaji for this new venture of service.
It is said in our scriptures:
Ayam nijah paroveti ganana laghuchetasam
Udara charitanan tu vasudhaiva kutumbkam
It means: “’This is mine, that is yours,’ so calculate the small-minded. For those who are large-hearted, the whole world is one family.”
This is in the form of words in the Maha Upanishads, but our Amma is the living example of this message. Amma is an embodiment of love, compassion, selfless service, and renunciation. Amma is the torch bearer of the spiritual lineage of India. Amma’s life teachings are the core of the Maha Upanishads.
Today, on this auspicious occasion, I also wish to extend my thanks to all the leaders associated with the Math, to all the dignitaries connected with the trust, and to all the hospital’s doctors and staff members.
Friends, we have so often heard:
Na tu aham kaamye raajyam, na cha svarga sukhaani cha
Kaamye dukha taptaanaam praaNinaam aarta naashanam
It means: “I neither want the riches of the kingdom, nor do I seek the comforts of heaven. My only desire is to remove the pains and sorrows of suffering humanity.”
For a society nurturing such values, for a society upholding such traditions, service and treatment become its very consciousness. That is why India is a nation where treatment is service and healthcare is charity. In India, healthcare and spirituality are interconnected.
We have a Veda known as Ayur Vigyan which is dedicated to the study of medicine. We have named our medical science as Ayurveda. We have given the status of Rishi or Maharishi to our greatest scholars of and scientists of Ayurveda. We have expressed our supreme faith in them. There are so many great sages like Maharishi Charaka, Maharishi Sushruta, and Maharishi Vagbhata, to name a few. Their knowledge and observations have been eternally printed in the Indian psyche.
Brothers and sisters, even during the centuries of slavery, during the darkest days, India never allowed this culture and mindset to fade away at all. We preserved it. Today, once again in our country, that spiritual power of ours is gaining strength. Once again, the strength of our ideals is exerting its might more and more.
The whole world is looking up to Amma as a key torchbearer for the reawakening of India. Today, her resolves and projects are in front of us in the form of such huge institutions of service. Respected Amma’s love and compassion are visible in all fields, connected with social life. Today, her Math is offering scholarships to thousands of children and is empowering millions of women through self-help groups.
Amma, unprecedented was Your contribution to Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in the country! Just because of Your precious contribution to Swachh Bharat Kosh, a lot of work could be done for the families in areas along the banks of the Ganges. It also helped the Namami Gange Campaign a lot.
The whole world has great regard for Pujya Ammaji, but I am a very lucky person. For the past several decades, I have been continuously receiving Pujya Amma’s affection and her blessings. On my pulse I have felt her simplicity and her great vision for the motherland. That’s why I can say with certainty that a country blessed with such a generous and dedicated spiritual power is bound to prosper and progress.
Friends, in a way, this system of discharging the responsibilities related to education and health by our spiritual and social institutions is a kind of PPP model of olden days. Though termed as Public-Private Partnership, I see it as ‘Paraspara Prayaasa’ or mutual effort. In the olden days, the states would create systems at their own level and would play a major role in the formation of large universities. But along with this, religious institutions were also one of its important centres.
Today, the country is also trying to ensure that the state governments take steps to transform the health and education sectors of the country in a mission mode—with full faith and sincerity. Social organizations share the same motivation. This is an effective PPP model developed by partnership with the private sector.
From this platform, I invoke that this project of Amrita Hospital will become an ideal and emerge as a role model for other institutions of the country. Many of our other religious organizations are also running such institutes and working on various resolves. Our private sector, on the lines of the PPP model, can take forward the Spiritual-Private Partnership by offering resources to them.
Friends, we have seen how the efforts of every section of society, every institution, and every economic sector can bring visible results. We saw this during the COVID-19 pandemic. Here I would like to emphasize the role played by Spiritual-Private Partnership.
You all must be aware that when India developed its own vaccine, vicious propaganda was unleashed by some people and many kinds of rumours started spreading. That is when religious leaders and spiritual gurus of the society came together and asked the people not to pay heed to these. As a result, India did not face the same kind of vaccine hesitancy that was seen in other countries. Thanks to this spirit of common effort, India could claim to have run one of the world’s most successful vaccination programmes, as well as the largest.
Friends, from the ramparts of Red Fort, I have presented before you a vision of the ‘Panch Pranas‘ of Amrit Kaal. One of the five pranas is the total rejection of slave-mentality, and discussion about it has begun across the country. When we shed off this mindset, the direction of our actions also changes.
Today, this very change is also visible in the healthcare system of the country. We are incorporating our traditional knowledge and experiences and then sharing the benefits with others across the globe. Our Ayurveda and our Yoga have become reliable systems of healthcare, and on India’s proposal, next year the whole world is going to celebrate International Millet Year—mota dhaan or raw rice. I anticipate all of you to carry on this campaign in the same spirit and lend it the same energy.
Friends, the scope of health-related services is not limited to hospitals, medicines, and treatment. There are so many factors connected with seva that lay the foundation of a healthy society. For example, the access of every citizen to clean, potable water is an equally important matter. In our country, polluted water causes so many diseases, so to address this, we started a nationwide campaign called ‘Jal Jeevan Mission’ three years ago.
Since then, seven crore rural households have been given piped water supply, and notably, the Haryana government has done an effective job in taking part. I want to emphasize that point in particular. Haryana is one of the leading states where every household has been connected to the piped water supply.
Not only this, the people of Haryana have done a commendable job in terms of the project ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao‘ (Save the Girl, Educate the Girl). As well, fitness and sports are in the veins of Haryana folks, not only in its foundational culture, but also the soil itself. That is why the youth of this state are adding to the glory of the tricolour in the field of sports. We need to achieve such phenomenal results at the same pace in other states, too. Our social organizations can make a huge contribution to the same.
Friends, that alone is real development—when it reaches to everyone and from which everyone benefits. And Amrita Hospital cherishes this spirit by making its healthcare services accessible to all. I am sure its resolution of serving people will render good health to millions of families of Haryana and Delhi NCR.
Once again, bowing down at the Lotus Feet of Pujya Amma and congratulating all of you from the bottom of my heart. I extend many, many best wishes to all of you. Thank you very much.
