Fifteen poor and meritorious students from rural West Bengal were today awarded scholarships to pursue medical education by a private hospital chain at a function here.
The scholarships, awarded as part of Narayana Health's 'Udayer Pathey endowment programme', was a step towards generating quality medical professionals in rural India as the urban-rural distribution of medical professionals is uneven though majority of the population resides in rural India, organisers said.
358 students have benefited so far from this programme which commenced in 2007.
The function was attended by eminent cardiologist and the organisation's chairman Devi Shetty.
"Today, our country is in immense need of quality health care professionals. Children from rural India have the fire and zeal to become an outstanding medical professional but their economic background pulls them back from achieving it. Through this initiative, we aim to support deserving rural children in West Bengal to pursue medical education and thereby motivate them to render medical services in their villages and small towns," Shetty said.
