Mumbai-based NGO Purva Seema Vikas Pratishthan, established by the late Bhaiyyaji Kane in 1971 to help youngsters from the N-E states, brought the candidates to Mumbai on December 6 last year.They are from remote villages in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Tripura and Nagaland. Some of them know basic health treatments, while others are freshers. They are imparted classroom training for six m
onths at the Vatsalya trust. After that, they are given on-field training for four months at clinics or hospitals. Once training is complete, each student would be given a starter kit to take back home. The end idea is that each of these students would go back and build a network of health workers in their states, without recourse to governmental help. The most important process of learning for these students, however, transcends the medical boundaries. “These students, and the youth in the N-E states know more about terrorist outfits than their own country. In fact, they do not identify with India at all and are rootless. Besides, extreme poverty and lack of education has confined these youth to their remote villages.
