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| Monday, March 19, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Kangra BJP
secy reinstated Hospital
upgraded only in name Rs 16 cr
spent on Kangra airport Farm Dept
told to check soil erosion Camp for
panchayat functionaries |
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Minister:
truce didn’t bring desired results 8 held
for hotel cook’s murder “Greening
of Himalayas” faces rough weather HP
second in literacy ‘Rich
should help talented kids’ HP
attorneys’ plea to govt Examinees
do not get question papers 
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Kangra BJP secy reinstated Shimla, March 18 The removal of Mr Padha was one of the main factors, besides the registration of an FIR against ministers, which provoked seven dissidents to raise a banner of revolt and demand a change in leadership. A party press note said that Mr Padha had been reinstated on the basis of the report of the committee headed by Mr Suresh Bhardwaj that proved the charges against him. Mr Dulo Ram, president of the Kangra district unit of the party, had openly criticised the action against Mr Padha and said he would continue to function as general secretary. The rebels who have been camping in Delhi were in an upbeat mood. Dr Rajan Sushant said things were moving in the right direction and they were confident that all their grievances would be settled. Besides Mr Jena Krishnamurthi, the acting BJP President, the rebels have also met Mr Pyare Lal Khandelwal, Vice-President, who has been deputed by the party high command to hold talks with the dissidents. Mr Narinder Modi, in charge of the party affairs in Himachal, whose removal is the main demand of the rebels, is already out of the picture. The rebels are now insisting on a one-time settlement of all issues, including balancing of the state executive, pradesh election committee and disciplinary committee, transfer of the Kangra Deputy Commissioner and SP and the evolution of a mechanism in the party to check undue interference in their constituencies. They want some more names like Dr R.S. Shastri, Mr Mohinder Sofat, Mr J.S. Negi and Mr Narinder Thakur included in the state executive. They are also not satisfied with the constitution of the election and disciplinary committees and maintain that the recent addition of Mr Dulo Ram and Mr Krishan Kapoor to these panels was a mere eyewash and had not restored the factional balance. |
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Hospital upgraded only in name Solan The hospital established in 1972, to cater to a tehsil and later a district, was upgraded as a zonal hospital to provide speciality health care. The staff of 22 doctors, serving more than 1,000-odd patients a day, has remained static ever since its inception. The influx of patients has increased by about 10 times but the fund-starved state government has yet to enhance the staff strength. The present staff is not only burdened with additional duties but is finding it different to cope with the patient inflow. At least two to three doctors are involved in court cases daily, three for family planning camps, three for additional administrative duties, another three for attending board meetings for handicapped, two to accompany VIPs in town, leaving barely five to six doctors a day for OPD patients. With a high rush of as many as eight medico-legal cases a day, the doctors in January had to visit courts on as many as 28 occasions, stalling their normal duties. Little wonder a large influx of patients can be seen waiting for doctors. Even with the existing shortage in paramedical staff, no waiting lists exist in the investigation and surgical department, says the doctors concerned. The diagnosis, together with the investigation, takes up to two days. The hospital staff is insufficient to deal with even a 100-bedded hospital, opines one doctor. In summer when the patients are forced to share beds, the situation becomes pitiable. In the absence of adequate staff putting beds in the corridors is also not viable, states another doctor. The Medical Officer, Dr RP Sahni, points out that an exclusive casualty staff is required to cater to emergencies and hence improve the performance of other doctors, besides OT (operation theatre) attendants. Catering to the districts of Solan, Sirmaur and peripheral Shimla, the hospital faces acute shortage of staff, particularly in summer when patient admission is the maximum. Doctors opine that at least three specialists for each department are needed in hospital. At Mandi the zonal hospital has 42 doctors, while this upgraded hospital is managing with just half this strength. The workload of doctors can be gauged from the fact that the only general surgeon, Dr SR Sharma, has to attend to family planning camps in places as far as Nalagarh and Darlaghat and on the same day has to conduct operations, besides attending to OPD duty. The ENT department, which receives 60 to 100 patients a day was, established only a few years back. It is set up in a small room, which was fragmented from the adjoining eye department. The otology sub room inside it is a mere 3 feet by 8 feet chamber separated by a wooden block. Besides being soundproof, the room should be at least 10 feet by 10 feet in diameter to ensure proper checks on the hearing of patients in decibels, opines ENT specialist Dr Rakesh Verma. The dentistry facilities of the zonal hospital include only the basic filling, extraction and scaling of teeth. Perhaps it requires another upgrading to enhance facilities like making dentures. There is neither any ICU nor any trauma unit in the hospital to cater to the accident victims in emergency situations. The radiographer insists that a cardiac monitor is a shortcoming of this place. Lack of surgical equipment mars the departments. A microscope was the last instrument purchased by the ENT department about three years back. About 70 ultrasounds, 60 x-rays and 15 ECGs are performed per day that too in the shortage of technicians who alternately conduct these tests. ECGs are conducted only for hour per day. There is only one ultrasound machine conducting about 8,000 tests a year. The doctors opine that at least two more machines are required one each for gynaecology and operation theatres to facilitate their working, insists the radiographer. The most surprising feature is the fact that the emergency patients have to get their ECGs performed from private labs in the shortage of lab technicians in the mornings. This correspondent found one private attendant performing ECGs in the female surgical ward. He managed to perform about two such tests per day charging Rs 60 per test. The blood bank staff also laments the shortage of staff as the major factor hampering their work. The blood is provided to the patients on a replacement basis but the poor and the emergency patients are given the relaxation. The blood bank staff insists that besides more lab attendants, class IV employees should also be posted in the department. The blood caters to the need of about 15 operations per week besides eight to nine deliveries and emergencies. A staff of 52 doctors with a minimum of three specialists per department is the requirement of the upgraded zonal hospital. Forget this number. Even the five other doctors posted here were transferred a few months ago on the plea of being “surplus”. This exercise contradicts the government’s claim of having converted the hospital into a zonal hospital. The shortage of child specialists in the hospital is the prime shortcoming where the doctors are forced to refer the terminally ill children to Shimla and at times their life is endangered. People have virtually lost faith in the lacklustre facilities provided to the children here. It is ironical that a place like Rampur Bushahr has three child specialists. The provision of a separate waterline is the other concern of the doctors who stated that private connections have provided from the hospital waterline lead to a decrease in supply. On the other hand, the Executive Officer of the Municipal Committee denied the charge and, on the contrary, blamed the poor upkeep of the water by the staff leading to wastage of water. Lack of housing quarters is one drawback of this upgraded hospital. All said and done, the underlying idea is that the hospital has not received the attention of the government for upgrading the facilities extended to it for about 28 years in the form of a tehsil hospital. |
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Rs 16 cr spent on Kangra airport Dharamsala, March 18 Speaking on the occasion of foundation laying ceremony of new terminal building at the Kangra airport, he said the Airport Authority of India (AAI) had come forward to undertake task of upgrading the airport both in terms of operational as well as passenger facilities. The Gaggal airport was today named as Kangra airport. Mr Gupta said in order to meet the tourist air-traffic to Himachal Pradesh his ministry had decided to take up the task of upgrading the Kangra and Kulu airports. He added that almost the whole airport infrastructure at these places was being created afresh. With extension of the airstrip by another 600 feet, it would be possible to land the 50-seater aircraft which in turn would bring down air tariff. Mr Gupta said his ministry would spend Rs 12 crore on upgrading the Kulu airport. “It was felt that existence of a full-fledged civil enclave close to Himachal Pradesh would meet the tourist demands so by April 30 we plan to lay foundation for this at the IAF base at Pathankot. Speaking on the occasion, the Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Mr Shanta Kumar, said upgrading of the Kangra airport would prove to be a milestone in promoting tourism in Kangra and Chamba area. He hoped that with the landing of bigger aircrafts after the extension of the airstrip the air tariff would also come down. Mr Shanta Kumar said the work on upgradation of the Kangra airport would be accomplished by the year 2002. He said the process of acquiring land for construction of the civil enclave at Pathankot airport was already on and even the Punjab Government had agreed to give land for the purpose. The Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, informed that the state government had already handed over the land for extending the airstrip at Gaggal to the AAI and a sum of Rs 1.91 crore had been sent to the Land Acquisition Collector, Kangra. Apart from this, we have released a sum of Rs 3.80 crore to the AAI for expansion of the Kangra airport. The state government would bear a cost of Rs 10 crore for construction of the terminal, runway and other facilities. The Chief Minister said keeping in mind the topographical constraints in the state, the civil enclave at Pathankot would go a long way in giving a boost to tourism in the state. The chairman of the AAI, Mr D.V. Gupta and the member planning (AAI), Mr K. Ramalingam, were also present on the occasion. |
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Farm Dept told to check soil erosion Shimla, March 18 In a statement here yesterday, Mr M.S. Mastana, Chairman of the society, expressed concern over the increasing damage and destruction being caused due to soil erosion. He stated that for speedy and effective implementation of soil conservation and other allied development programmes, the government must set up at least one soil conservation circle in each parliamentary constituency, one soil conservation division in each district and one soil conservation subdivision in each Vidhan Sabha constituency in a phased manner where such offices did not exist. To begin with, soil conservation circles should be established at Shimla, Dharamsala, Mandi and Hamirpur and soil conservation divisions at Rampur, Solan, Nahan, Bilaspur, Mulu, Hamirpur, Chamba and Una. Soil conservation sub-divisions should be set up at Banjar, Bilaspur, Barsar, Baijnath, Amb, Keylong, Theog, Solan, Sangrah, Sundernagar, Jogindernagar, Karsog, Ani, Chopal, Bharmour, Kaza, Thural and Bangana. He demanded that frequent inter-disciplinary staff transfers between soil conservation and agricultural extension wings may be completely banned, as these did not permit to build up of interest and specialisation in the subject thus affecting the quality of work in the field. The soil conservation could be included among the minimum need programme of each village and it should be treated as infrastructure of agriculture. Sufficient Budget provision could be made for the maintenance of infrastructure facilities already created. If maintenance was neglected, the work would have to be re-done and in the meantime erosion and sediment damage would continue to occur and the whole purpose of soil conservation would be defeated. He urged that necessary steps for introducing degree courses in agricultural engineering either at Regional Engineering College, Hamirpur or Agricultural University, Palampur, might be taken up. |
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Camp for panchayat functionaries Hamirpur, March 18 Addressing campers, Mrs Thakur said 14 more such camps would be organised in other parts of the district in the coming days. She said main aim of these camps was to educate the panchayati raj functionaries to know how to function under new provisions of the Panchayati Raj Act where more powers had been delegated to panchayati raj institutions by the state government. As many as 250 panchayati raj functionaries and others were present on this occasion. She said the Central Government had sanctioned a Rs 1.38 cr off-season vegetable project for the district to supplement income of farmers. She asked farmers to make full use of these schemes. She said under the project, construction work of 150 irrigation tanks would be undertaken besides provision of 15 permanent krishi seva kendras. The Deputy Commissioner said a camp to provide artificial organs to disabled persons would also be organised here on March 25 and 26. Mr B.R. Verma, ADC here asked the campers to take active part in government-sponsored programmes and thus help people to become part and parcels of the government. |
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Minister: truce didn’t bring desired results Dharamsala, March 18 Mr Gupta, who was here to attend the foundation stone-laying ceremony of the new terminal building at the Gaggal airport, said though the ceasefire had failed to bring about the desired results, but at the same time, it had brought some relief to the people of the valley in certain ways. “Today, majority of the local militants have returned home, leaving only foreign mercenaries to run the major militant outfits,” he observed. While admitting that the killings in the valley were still going on, Mr Gupta said this was not something new as massacres had disturbed the peace and harmony of Jammu and Kashmir even before the ceasefire. He added that the government would have to pay a price for any step taken in order to restore the peace in the valley. “After the ceasefire, the locals have now come to know that it was not the Indian Army, but the militants who were inflicting atrocities on them,” he stated. Mr Gupta said with the announcement of ceasefire, the government has given an opportunity to many estranged youths to come back to the mainstream and lead a normal life. The minister said majority of the militant outfits, including the Hurriyat, were divided. “After many years, the farmers have been able to sow their crops, as there is peace along the Line of Actual Control,” he said. |
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8 held for hotel cook’s murder Dalhousie, March 18 Mr Sanjay Kundu, Superintendent of Police, said today that a hunt had been launched to nab a few others, including an assistant manager of the hotel involved in the clash and wanted by the police. For this, check-points on highways linking Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir neighbouring states had been sealed, the S.P. added. The S.P. said it was a clash over hotel property dispute between the directors of the hotel. He said a case had been registered under Sections 302 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code. The S.P. said the deceased had been identified as Manav, who belonged to Tamil Nadu, and had earlier been serving in different hotels in Dalhousie for the past many years. The injured was Parkash who had been relieved from the hospital after first-aid, he added. Meanwhile, fear prevails among business who are running hotels illegally and whose hotels are not registered with the Department of Tourism under the HP Tourist Trade Act. The hotel owners who are transacting business by violating the building bye-laws and the provisions of the HP Tourist Trade Act are apprehensive of crackdown on them by the Department of Tourism. |
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“Greening of Himalayas” faces rough weather Dalhousie, March 18 According to official sources, the pilot project, had been approved by the Centre and designed to be put into operation in three states — Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir — with the active participation of the local people. Under the project, 18 panchayats of the Dehar rivulet catchment area in Bhattiyat subdivision and 11 panchayats falling in the Sal rivulet catchment area in Chamba subdivision had been identified to be covered. The official sources reveal that this project was launched in these panchayats with the participation of local residents besides non-governmental organisations (NGOs) like the Himalaya Bachao Samiti already functioning in Chamba district. Initially, the project did well even with meagre funds provided for the project. Surprisingly, when the progress on this project was monitored by a team of experts from the Government of India, 92 per cent survival of plants was recorded, an achievement in any such project designed to save the alpine regions of the Himalayas. Hardly Rs 2,500 per hectare was spent on this project. However, after the first instalment was received for the pilot project, the Union
Government forgot to release funds in the second instalment and the entire development on the project was hampered. Since the project is starved of funds, it has become a lame duck for the
departments concerned and the NGOs as well as the local people engaged to generate employment among them. |
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HP second in
literacy Kulu, March 18 He said the development of a country was directly dependent on the development and standard of education available. Mr Madhurvina Thakur, Principal of the college, thanked Mr Maheshwar Singh, MP, for giving Rs 5 lakh for the college library building. The minister gave away the prizes to the students and NCC cadets who had distinctions in various fields. He applauded the 200 college students to donate blood during this session for needy patients of far-flung areas. |
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‘Rich should help
talented kids’ Nahan, March 18 He informed that along with old college fellows, he had established a foundation and contributed around Rs 2 lakh to help poor and talented students of Sirmaur. Mr Mittal said the teachers should help students imbibe the spirit of social responsibility. Earlier, the Principal of the college, Mr Amar Singh Chauhan, read the annual report and disclosed that work of a hostel for 40 girls was in progress. A cheque for his 61,500 on behalf of students and staff of the college was presented towards the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund on the occasion. |
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HP attorneys’ plea to govt Kasauli, March 18 The association has further sought that the attorneys be granted special pay for civil work which is levied on the Assistance Public Prosecutors (APPs) in addition to their duties. Since the government is undertaking gradation of the government employees on the basis of pay scales, the association has demanded that ADA-cum-APP be put in a class or grade, as it was a professional service. Mr Rana pointed out that since the government had granted conveyance allowance to the other officers in the state, they should also be entitled for the same. The longstanding demand of the attorneys, which was accepted in the Law Officers conference held in Shimla in 1997, has been hanging fire due to the paucity of funds. |
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Examinees do not get question papers Mandi, March 18 No extra time was given to the students and the answer sheets were taken away just after two hours. This sparked resentment among the students. |
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Liquor vends’ auction Hamirpur, March 18 |
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