Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Sunday expressed concern that quality healthcare and education have become inaccessible to ordinary citizens due to increasing commercialisation.
Speaking after inaugurating the Madhav Srishti Arogya Kendra, an affordable cancer treatment centre set up by the philanthropic organisation Guruji Seva Nyas in Indore, Bhagwat said both sectors were once regarded as services but have now turned into profit-driven enterprises.
“Good health and education are extremely important, and they used to be considered a service. But now, both are neither affordable nor accessible,” he said. He added that while India has no shortage of hospitals and schools, their rising costs have placed them beyond the reach of most families.
Bhagwat criticised the corporatisation of essential services, saying education and healthcare have become centralised, forcing students and patients to travel long distances. “Earlier, teachers and doctors saw it as their duty to serve. Today, both have become professions,” he remarked, recalling how, as a child, a schoolteacher personally visited his home with herbal remedies when he was ill.
He also cited a minister’s remark describing Indian education as a “trillion-dollar business,” warning that such commercialisation undermines accessibility. Bhagwat urged society to work towards making healthcare and education affordable and within reach of all.