The government is in the process of considering the introduction of a short-term rural medical course to ensure availability of trained medical personnel in rural areas. Replying to questions in the Lok Sabha today, the Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Mr. Dinesh Trivedi said the government is examining a proposal for introducing a scheme of the course titled Bachelor of Rural Health Care (BRHC). He said the proposal was given by the Medical Council of India on 26th of February this year. He said the objectives are to provide trained persons in rural villages to provide treatment for ailments, early diagnosis, stabilization and referral and promoting public health activities and to reduce dependence of rural population on unqualified persons. The Minister said the BRHC personnel will be deployed in the 1,47,000 health sub-centres, which are presently being manned by Auxilliary Nursery Midwifery (ANM). He said the objective behind the novel idea is to ensure that a qualified and trained person is available round the clock to cater to the health needs and the people in the villages are not exploited by quacks. The Minister said that for the new course, local students after completing 10 plus 2 courses will be given preference. He also said that it is up to the states either to accept or to reject the proposal. While some of the members agreed with the government saying that this will bring in the health services to the doorsteps of the villagers, some others described the proposal as a retrograde step. They argued that the villagers will get a raw deal because instead of full-fledged MBBS doctors, they will get only half-baked doctors. However, the Minister rejected this argument by pointing out that all the Chief Ministers, cutting across party lines, have welcomed the proposal, which has also received widespread support from experts in the medical field and other stakeholders. The Speaker, Mrs. Meira Kumar has agreed with several members for a discussion on the subject later.<br/><br/> <br/>