Bhagwat’s call to keep education and healthcare free from profiteering

Lalit Garg

(The writer can be reached at lalitgarg11@gmail.com)

At the inauguration of an affordable cancer hospital in Indore, Rashtriya Swayam- sevak Sangh (RSS) Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat made a statement that highlights one of today’s most urgent social, economic, and moral imperatives. He stated unequivocally that fundamental sectors such as education and healthcare must be free from profiteering, as they are domains of service, not of commerce. In recent years, education and healthcare have witnessed an alarming surge in commercialization and corporatization. Both the government and the private sector have increasingly turned them into lucrative ventures, reflecting not just a flawed economic mindset but also a deeply corrosive social attitude. The result has been devastating—common people are being pushed to the brink of financial collapse. Exorbitant education costs have shattered household budgets, while profiteering in the name of medical care has driven countless families into poverty, depriving them of essential treatment.

Bhagwat’s warning strikes at the very root of this malaise and should serve as an eye-opener for those in power. In India, education and healthcare have historically been regarded as social responsibilities. Sadly, schools, colleges, and hospitals have now become profit-driven enterprises, often functioning as money-making hubs rather than centres of service. Governments, too, have adopted a revenue-orientated mindset, denying citizens affordable access to quality education and healthcare. This relentless profit motive has placed reputable schools and hospitals beyond the reach of the common man. Bhagwat’s statement is not just a casual remark—it is a clarion call to governments, policymakers, and society at large. Education and healthcare are the two fundamental pillars of human life. Yet, rapid commercialization is transforming them from avenues of service into profit-making machines. Heavy fees charged by private schools, the competitive race of coaching institutes, and exorbitant tuition in medical colleges have all placed education far beyond the reach of the poor and middle class. Similarly, the profit-orientated model of hospitals and pharmaceutical companies has turned healthcare into an expensive commodity.

Indeed, Bhagwat’s concern is a sharp critique of our times and of the distorted economic thinking that dominates them. The financial burden of healthcare on Indian households is steadily rising. Shockingly, only 17% of total health expenditure comes from government funds, while about 82% is borne directly by the people, often pushing them into lifelong debt. Many families sink permanently into poverty after a single hospital admission. Non-communicable diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and hypertension now afflict a large section of the population, and the cost of diagnosis, consultation, and treatment is steep—rarely covered adequately by insurance schemes.

In this dismal and troubling scenario, Bhagwat’s message is not just a call for economic reform but also for social renewal. Freeing education and healthcare from commercial exploitation is not merely an emotional or moral appeal—it is a question of national stability and equality. When the poor cannot access medical care and promising students are denied education for lack of funds, inequality, resentment, and social unrest inevitably grow. In such a context, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s slogan of a “New India” and a “Developed India” risks sounding hollow.

In the vision of New India, where citizens are already burdened with heavy taxation, the revenue collected must be spent on public welfare and service. After Independence, the government was entrusted with the responsibility for education and healthcare. Over time, however, successive governments have cleverly shifted from offering these services free of charge to making them paid, thereby eroding public trust. Bhagwat’s statement must serve as a wake-up call for the government. Concrete steps are needed at the policy level: Strengthen public education and healthcare institutions with high quality and affordability. Regulate fees and treatment charges in the private sector. Offer tax incentives and encouragement to those with a service-orientated approach, while imposing strict penalties on profiteering. Implement public-private partnerships in education and healthcare with transparency and accountability. Treat profiteering in these sectors as a punishable offence, allowing only those driven by service and mission to work in them and closing the door to purely profit-seeking players.

Curbing profiteering in education and healthcare cannot be achieved through legislation alone—it also requires the growth of a value-based social mindset. Service, human sensitivity, and a just economic framework rooted in ethics are the only lasting solutions. If Bhagwat’s initiative translates into concrete policy changes, it will strengthen India not just economically but also morally. Bhagwat also urged adherence to the religious and cultural principles of public welfare, rather than the tokenism of so-called corporate social responsibility (CSR). Today, many corporations flout CSR provisions by funnelling CSR funds into their own trusts.

In the philosophy of the RSS, education and healthcare have always been linked to the values of “service and character-building”. The organisation believes that the true foundation of nation-building lies in healthy and educated citizens, and that providing these essentials to every section of society—affordably, accessibly, and equally—is the truest form of patriotism. A doctor should not be merely a fee-charging professional but a partner in a patient’s suffering; a teacher should not be just a provider of lessons but a builder of lives. Bhagwat’s call is rooted in this vision: to free education and healthcare from the clutches of profiteering and restore them to their ideal of service, ensuring that no child is denied education for want of money and no patient is denied treatment due to financial burden.

Unfortunately, the temples of learning and shelters of care have today turned into commercial hubs—missions have become businesses. Public outrage over this was evident when a Hyderabad school demanded an annual fee of ?2.5 lakh for nursery admission, sparking widespread debate on the commercialization of education. Rising fees reflect the deepening marketisation of these essential services. Bhagwat’s recent appeal could compel those in power to reconsider and bring about policy changes. It is high time the government undertook strict, humane reforms in education and healthcare policy, ensuring they never become mere money-making machines. Indeed, the Modi government must give serious thought to Bhagwat’s message. Education and healthcare should be treated not as market commodities, but as citizens’ rights. By viewing these sectors as social obligations rather than revenue streams, the government can move towards building a society rooted in equality, balance, and service.