Samit Sharma is serving his duty as an IAS diligently working with a difference to bring a positive change in society
Samit Sharma, posted in Rajasthan as secretary, Social Justice and Empowerment Department, has been working diligently and differently to bring in a positive change in the society with his distinguished endeavours.
Earning laurels for bringing in the project of “Access to Low-Cost Generic Medicines, Rajasthan”, this man with a vision and mission has won millions of hearts with his working.
He is the man who checked illegal mining while serving as Chittaurgarh collector and saved hills spread around.
He planted saplings around wherever he was posted to render his duty.
Recently, during his positing as divisional commissioner in Jodhpur, he planted millions of saplings to turn the surroundings green.
Sharma is also known to plant a sapling daily wherever he stays.
Also he accepts plants as a gift always.
Baba Ramdev used his ‘Satyamev Jayate’ clip to defend his cause
Sharma recently was in news when Yoga guru Baba Ramdev shared a clipping from Bollywood star Aamir khan’s show Satyamev Jayate aired on Star Plus in 2012 where he spoke on pharmaceutical companies making money by increasing the price of medicines whose manufacturing price is quite low.
The yoga guru challenged “medical mafias” to sue and protest against the actor if they can for discussing the “overpricing” of modern medicines in the country.
Sharma, who attended the show, was heard saying in the clip that “The original price of medicines is pretty low. But when we buy them from market, we pay between 10-50% extra for those medicines. They are sold at higher prices. In India, more than 40 crore people fail to afford even food twice a day for themselves. Can they buy those over priced medicines?” Aamir Khan then interrupted and shockingly asked, “Many people fail to afford medicines due to this reason (high price)?”
The guest i.e Sharma nodded and continued, “Yes. The WHO says even after 65 years of independence, still 65 per cent of Indian population lacks regular access to essential medicines due to high pricing.”
Explaining with examples, Sharma said, “A packet of blood cancer medicine costs Rs 1.25 lakh usually. Same generic medicines can be bought in around Rs 10,000.”
The man with vision recently received laurels for announcing the package for orphaned kids due to COVID pandemic in Rajasthan.
Dr. Samit Sharma Biography
Born in 1972, Samit Sharma aspired to become an IAS officer since his childhood days. His science teacher persuaded him to join the stream as he had secured the highest marks in 10th standard in his district.
He saw people around suffering with the challenges of electricity and water and hence wanted to do something to resolve these issues.
Ascertaining his goal to serve the cause of people, he pursued MBBS and did MD in paediatrics from Rajasthan. He practised in different hospitals of Rajasthan for about five years as a medical doctor before preparing for his IAS exam.
Samit Sharma’s praiseworthy project
Samit drew laurels after working with the Government of Rajasthan on “Access to Low-Cost Generic Medicines, Rajasthan”.
He was aware of the fact that about 40% people are unable to pay for drugs due to its high cost. So his aim was to provide low-cost drugs for people.
To achieve this, a notice was issued to all district government doctors to prescribe and use generic drugs exclusively. These low-cost high-quality drugs were obtained from Government-run cooperative stores. Apart from this, many awareness camps were organized to educate people about the low-cost drugs.
Sharma winning millions of hearts
In 2009, Samit Sharma was transferred from an IAS office because he didn’t sack a lower divisional clerk as he didn’t stand up when an MLA had entered the office (which was ordered by an official circular). Over 12000 government employees in Rajasthan’s Chittorgarh district took mass leave to stop the transfer of District Magistrate Samit Sharma. But thankfully this didn’t stop him from doing great work. His innovation in low-cost medicine has benefited many and should also be adopted by other states.
