New Delhi: Billionaire and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for prioritising the health sector and striving to achieve the set targets. In an exclusive interview with Navika Kumar, Group Editor-in-Chief of Times Network, when Gates was asked about India’s growth in health and agriculture sectors, the Co-Chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation said that the country is “on track”.
He stated that he was impressed by PM Modi's work. "Well, I'm very pleased that he (PM Modi) prioritises health. He is really speaking out about that. Also when the government is doing well, he likes that to be measured and acknowledged. But then, whenever the numbers don't work, he's very impatient. (PM Modi then thinks) Okay, do I need to pick another team or how do I drive it? And then he has people at ICMR, NITI AAYOG , and he's saying to them, what are the best practices in this area? What do the Indian researchers say?" the billionaire said.
"And because our foundation is working so closely with those teams, when I do get to see the President, we're like, okay our goals are in common. How do we achieve this faster? And so in health and in agriculture, India is on track. They're not subject to the degree of debts that African countries have. And so it is a wonderful place that will not only set an example, but prove out new technologies," he added.
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Gates also lauded India for running substantial programmes, including mid-day meal. "India has substantial programs, such as midday meal, trying to make sure that the food that's used there is very nutritious food. So a lot of the pioneering of doing better on malnutrition, we're doing that with our partners in India because even though it's not a solved problem, the effort being made there is very impressive," he stated.
Bill Gates On Goalkeepers Report:
When asked about the findings of the Goalkeepers Report how economists focus on growth, and not people's path to development, Gates said stressed the need to focus on health and education.
"Well, the World Bank, I would say, really did start talking about human development, that it's not just GDP per person. Because as you make investments in children's health and their education, that pays off 20 years later. And so you want countries to really measure themselves and be incentivised to do better on health and education and then it will be fantastic economically," he said.
"And I would say India has been very good on that. They have programs that our new research is helping to inform how to make them even more effective," Gates added.