Bringing out the inefficiencies in the health ministry once again, minister of state for health Dinesh Trivedi said here on Monday that his ministry cannot work on the present bureaucratic system and needs people who are committed to health issues.

“Health needs attention 24/7 and it cannot work on the bureaucratic system where people work from 9 am to 7 pm. We need people who start and end their careers with health and not bureaucrats who keep shifting from one ministry to the other every five years. I do not doubt their (bureaucrats’) sincerity but their efficiency,” said Trivedi at an event titled ‘Healthcare for All’ organised by Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), an association of business organisations in India.

Trivedi said that the health ministry should have a model similar to what the railways ministry is following and have a separate cadre for health services.

On health ministry’s partnership with the railways ministry on setting up hospitals and diagnostic centres on spare land with the railways ministry, Trivedi said that nothing has been done about it by the health ministry.

“The health ministry has not moved at the speed at which the railways ministry has moved,” said Trivedi.

Inaugurating the two-day conference, Trivedi said that ‘Health for All’ can’t happen if we only work in the ‘whoever can afford it’ bracket.

“This is an elitist model. A holistic approach is needed to address the healthcare delivery problems in India. Basic needs like potable water, electricity and food should be integrated with health,” said Trivedi.

In the next ten days, Trivedi will have an informal meeting with Sam Pitroda, advisor to the prime minister on public information, infrastructure and innovations, and 20-25 experts from various fields of health to find solutions to the basic problems of food, water and malnutrition in India.