Vice President of India Jagdeep Dhankhar has urged district administrations to implement comprehensive planning for large public events, especially religious gatherings, to prevent disasters like the Shirgao temple stampede, which left six dead and nearly 100 injured earlier this month.
Addressing All India Services Officers in Goa, Dhankhar stressed that the bureaucracy must embody transparency and accountability, cautioning that proximity to political power can erode administrative integrity.
Citing the Shree Devi Lairai Zatra tragedy, he echoed the findings of a state-appointed committee that blamed the incident on poor planning and crowd mismanagement, calling for urgent systemic reforms to ensure public safety.
In a separate address at Goa Raj Bhavan, the Vice President turned his focus to India’s legacy of alternative medicine, advocating for scientific validation, digitization, and wider dissemination of the ancient medical wisdom of Charaka, Sushruta, and Dhanvantari. He praised the World Health Organization’s new Global Centre for Traditional Medicine in Jamnagar as a global recognition of India’s medical heritage.
“We are rediscovering our roots. Ancient texts must not remain confined to libraries—they should be brought to life through research, innovation, and modern science,” Dhankhar said.