'I Believe In Creating An Impact With My Work' - Vamsi Pramod - Best 50 - Class Of 2017

About Me:

 I am currently a student pursuing MBA from IIFT Delhi. I'm the Alumni Coordinator, one of the five members in the Students’ Council at IIFT, heading the Alumni Relations and also acting as an interface between the institute and the Alumni. Prior to joining IIFT, I was working with TCS as a Team lead. I pursued my under graduation from University of Allahabad and prior to that have done my schooling in Andhra Pradesh

 Apart from education and work, what excites me is taking up larger responsibilities and working on the challenges associated with it. I have learnt a lot in such positions and I am satisfied when I create an impact through the work. 

 I also like to read biographies and explore new places.

Give us an instance when you failed miserably and how did you overcome that downfall?

 As an Alumni Coordinator, I organised marquee event of IIFT- International Trade Conclave in Dubai. Organising a conclave which witnesses participation from over 120 business leaders across gulf region in a foreign country is a daunting task. This year we wanted to take this event to an unprecedented level through an increase in participation and visibility.

We decided to tie up with a leading industrial chamber for partnership. Success of which would have given us a huge visibility and participation in the conclave. We started planning in March for the event scheduled on 24th September. Through some contact, we started pursuing that partnership, who also assured its success. We planned the process accordingly. Less than two months away in July we realised that there was no movement and it is highly unlikely to materialise. All the planning which we did for organising, failed, as we took the partnership for granted. There were a plethora of tasks pending to be fulfilled in a one and a half months time - booking of venue, inviting dignitaries and the delegates for the conclave etc. It is a huge event for the institute and we wanted to put up the best conclave. We immediately started with the activities creating a new plan, went there two weeks in advance to smoothen on ground activities, and took support from Alumni in inviting the delegates in person.

All these efforts leading up to the event was a great learning experience and we ended up organising the conclave with a better participation and media coverage (http://khaleejtimes.com/international/india/uae-india-can-grow-investment-synergies)

If you had a magic wand, what is the one problem in India that you would magically wish away? Explain why.

 If I had a magic wand I would wish away the lack of healthcare access and affordability to citizens. If you consider the following statistics: 

One million Indians die every year due to inadequate healthcare facilities and around 700 million have no access to specialist care. India's public financing of healthcare is less than 1% and is home to 16% of world population.

India’s expenditure on health is 4.7% of GDP compared to United States - 17.1%, Canada - 10.4%, United Kingdom - 9.1%, South Africa - 8.8%, China - 5.5% (World Bank data in 2014)

There are so many schemes run by central and state government, offering low-cost treatment, free medicines etc. However, the facilities are very limited with hospitals being understaffed, under- financed and maintaining very poor standards of hygiene. This forces patients to opt for treatment in private hospitals or to move into cities where costs increase and also defer in the decision of taking treatment.

Around 17% is insured for healthcare and out of pocket expenses are around 80%. 

This causes people to visit hospitals for treatment and not for prevention. There are a lot of insurance schemes but knowledge and importance are not known to the citizens. 

I have seen people who have deferred appointments, treatments due to the money involved, which eventually aggravated the situation and ended up in life threatening situation. 

These issues need a transformative and prioritised treatment which successive governments have been unable to provide. Thus with my magic wand, I would wish away the problems of the healthcare access and affordability ensuring a healthy India

India does not have 1 hospital bed per 1000 persons. It is much below WHO's average of 5. If you were the prime minister of the country, how would you solve this problem?

 1) The average occupancy rate of beds in government hospitals is very high and for private is less (around 60-70%), i.e. around 30% beds can be utilised. Government can create a database of all hospitals (beds) in a region. PPP model to be taken up where prices for a treatment with a private hospital to be standardised. In these cases whenever a patient needs a bed, based on availability in private hospital in the region, the bed will be allocated.

2) Clinics to be setup in places where demand for treatment is high, the government will invest in setting up these. Areas will be identified where it needs to be implemented immediately. Specialist doctors either through the virtual network or for a day in a week will attend to serious patients.

3) As per company’s act of investing 2% in CSR activities, healthcare infrastructure will be prioritised, where companies can invest in the list of areas based on existing services availability. They will help in setting up clinics in coordination with government.

4) Tax exemptions will be given to private hospitals to setup their facilities in rural areas, incentive to boost the investment in setup of facilities.

5) Migration to cities for better treatment is common, partnering with network providers such as CISCO to provide quality treatment from a specialist at remote places can increase efficiency.

6) Diagnosis to be done prior admitting, this will reduce the number of days a bed is occupied.

7) Bill will be passed to ensure private hospitals do not put in surge pricing in case of emergencies. Such cases were seen during Dengue outbreak.

 As a Prime Minister, I will ensure that the above tasks are taken up on priority.