BENGALURU: Karnataka Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar struck a jarring note at the 25th convocation of the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) here on Sunday, when he claimed that modern Indian women want to stay single and are unwilling to have children.
"Today, I am sorry to say this, lots of modern women in India want to stay single. Even if they get married, they don't want to give birth. They want surrogacy. So there is a paradigm shift in our thinking, which is not good," Sudhakar said at the NIMHANS Convention Centre, where 227 postgraduates and 13 students were awarded meritorious awards.
He said that every seventh Indian has some mental issue -- mild, moderate or severe. However, he said that stress management is an art and Indians need not learn it, but can preach to the world how to handle it. Addressing the convocation, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai stated, "It is great to see so many students graduating. NIMHANS has been one of the best institutions in the country."
"However, we need to focus on stress management. Women are worst hit by stress, so I request NIMHANS director Dr Pratima Murthy to start a dedicated course on stress management for women. With the institute being one of the largest hospitals with many people coming from across districts and states, we need to ensure that the hospital has the required facilities. I will donate 100 ventilators to the hospital in two phases," he added.
Meanwhile, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Sunday mooted the idea of incorporating Indian traditions in keeping good mental health in the medical syllabus, and urged NIMHANS to study the issue deeply to enable the government to formulate a policy.
NIMHANS organised the event keeping in mind Covid-appropriate behaviour. About 300 students enrol each year for advanced studies at the postgraduate and doctorate level. The meritorious awards were given to 13 students from departments like DM Neurology, DM Neuroimaging and Interventional Radiology, DM Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Magister Chirurgiae (MCh) Neurosurgery, MD Psychiatry, Master of Philosophy (M.Phil) Clinical Psychology, M.Phil Neurophsysiology, MSc psychiatric nursing, M.Phil Neurosciences. The convocation was also attended by Bengaluru Central MP PC Mohan and Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya.