M A I N   N E W S

New initiative on Kashmir likely
From Girja Shankar Kaura
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Nov 13 — A new initiative for talks for peace in the troubled state of Jammu and Kashmir could possibly be undertaken at the forthcoming wedding of the daughter of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Chairman, Mr Amanullah Khan, with the son of the Chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Conference and senior leader of the All-Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC), Mr Abdul Ghani Lone, at Rawalpindi in Pakistan.

Indications available from the government sources here point to the possibility of the Vajpayee-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government making use of this social event to open another dialogue with the separatists in Jammu and Kashmir. This is all the more so specially as all major parties involved in the state would be present on the occasion and it would for the first time provide the government with an opportunity to be face to face with all of them.

Sources disclosed that since the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah, was also likely to be present at the wedding, there was every likelihood that an official contact with the separatists would be renewed. Although no formal talks might as yet be held, but the government was apparently looking at the occasion as an opportunity where some initial headway could be made again.

According to reports, Dr Abdullah, who has been making claims publicly about attending the marriage, would possibly be carrying some brief from the government. And since he is the Chief Minister of the state from where all the parties are involved an initiative from him would also send across the right signals, officials here said.

After the last fiasco, where the government bungled by not only involving senior Home Ministry officials but also inviting the media for the talks, this would be an opportunity for the government to bring all separatists to the table. Incidentally on the last occasion the government had decided to keep Dr Abdullah out of the talks and had given an indication that it would be depending heavily on the APHC.

But apparently the government now seems to have realised that any initiative on its part would come a cropper without involving Dr Abdullah.

Sources disclosed that the likely decision of the government to issue a passport to APHC leader Abdul Ghani Lone to attend his son’s wedding is also based on the premise that some ice could finally be broken on stalled peace talks. Indications available here point out that Mr Lone may be issued a passport within the next two or three days but the government is still to take a decision on its validity.

Officials in the government say the decision to issue a passport to Mr Lone will not just be that of the Ministry of Home Affairs or the Ministry of External Affairs but of the NDA government as a whole. This specially as all departments and agencies of the government will get involved in the issue and any bungling may again have international ramifications.

The government is also apparently viewing this opportunity as one to send across signals in the valley about its resolve in solving the crisis in the state. There is a feeling that issuing the passport itself will reflect the softening stand of the government.

Besides, the APHC and the JKLF, although being dormant, still have an influence in the valley and a reflection of support from them can prove crucial for the government in its attempts. Both the APHC and the Amanullah Khan-led JKLF have always followed separate paths and the coming together of the two on the same table will in itself be an achievement.

Mr Amanullah Khan himself has also taken the opportunity to send across a message for peace. At the back of the invitation card sent by him is a message from him calling for a concerted effort from all the parties involved, towards solving the situation in Jammu and Kashmir.

Incidentally, sources disclose that since all major Kashmir-based parties will be together, this occasion will also provide the government with an opportunity to isolate the Pakistan-backed foreign mercenary groups which now have been basically creating disturbances in Jammu and Kashmir.

Highway blues-II
Reluctance in rushing victims to hospital
By Shubhadeep Choudhury
Tribune News Service

G.T. Road, Nov 13 — An accident victim on the 235-km stretch of road connecting Chandigarh with Kundli (Sonepat) on the Haryana-Delhi border has little chance of getting timely medical care. Even though at least three persons die every day on an average on this stretch, there is a lack of initiative in rushing victims to the nearest hospital.

“An accident victim can be seldom given medical aid on time”, said Sandeep Singh, SHO at the Panipat (City) police station. He could remember at least two VIPs who died on not getting timely medical attention. In 1996, a Haryana Vikas Party MLA, met with an accident near Lalru (in Punjab) and subsequently succumbed to his injuries on not getting timely treatment. In 1995, an IFS officer, who was working at the High Commission in Sri Lanka, met with an accident near Karnal and died under similar circumstances, the SHO recalled.

The problem, however, cannot be attributed to lack of hospitals on the road as there are hospitals on every 25 km stretch of the highway, capable of treating accident patients unless one has a serious head injury, needing CT scan. There are general hospitals at Ambala, Karnal, Kurukshetra, Panipat and Sonepat. At small centres such as Nilokheri, Shahbad, Gharaunda, Ghanaur, etc, which fall on the highway, there are either community health centres (CHC) with six doctors or primary health centres (PHC) with four doctors. There are also a number of private medical clinics in the urban centres along the road.

Dr O.P. Hooda, Superintendent of the General Hospital at Sonepat, said while hospitals were available, the transportation of accident victims was haphazard and posed a major problem. When an accident takes place on the G.T. Road, the practice is to put the injured in the earliest available vehicle whichever direction it is going. Thus, if an accident takes place somewhere near Karnal, the injured may very well be transported to Sonepat, if a Sonepat-bound vehicle can be found. Precious time is lost because in the absence of any effective mechanism for taking an accident victim to the nearest hospital, Dr Hooda said and added that the problem was acute at night.

Dr R.S. Dahiya, the District Health Officer (DHO) at Panipat, said accident victims from as far as Murthal, near Sonepat, and 40 km from Panipat, land up at Panipat in the absence of any effective system for moving accident victims.

“Most of the time the accident victims are brought to hospital by the public”, said Dr H.O. Bhatia of the PHC at Gharaunda. They treated at least one accident case daily and came across at least one or two fatal cases every month. While police officials at Panipat as well Kurukshetra claimed that they were providing 24-hour patrolling on the highway, this was obviously far from the truth.

It is, however, a fact that all the CHCs are properly manned. At the Samalkha CHC, for instance, there are four doctors instead of six. At Barkhalsa CHC in Sonepat district, doctors are seldom found and accident cases have to be treated at the Sonepat General Hospital. No hospital on the highway, including the general hospitals, has CT scan facility nor they have adequate network of ambulances for picking up the accident victims.

Some of the doctors interviewed by this reporter said the proposed trauma centre at Karnal would help in streamlining the traffic of accident victims. The trauma centre is, however, still a very long way off. Dr G.S. Narula, Principal Medical Officer (PMO) at the Karnal General Hospital, who is also in charge of the trauma centre, said the PWD (B&R) were still working on the design of its building. The Union Health Ministry had sanctioned Rs 1.50 crore for the project, of which Rs 73 lakh would be spent on the building alone, he said. The trauma centre would not have a CT scan machine to begin with and they would be able to procure one only after the at least Rs 1.50 crore is provided by the Union Government, he said.