The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Friday, May 3, 2002, Chandigarh, India

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7 jawans killed in explosion

Jaipur, May 2
Seven Army personnel were killed and four injured when landmines they were unloading from trucks at a firing range near the Indo-Pakistan border in Rajasthan exploded, the police said here today.

All jawans died on the spot and were in the rank of Lance-Corporal or Corporal. The injured have been admitted to the Army hospital in Suratgarh, official reports reaching the state police headquarters said.

The slain soldiers have been identified as Subhash Singh, Dhara Singh, Balbeer Singh, Vijay Kumar, Surendra Singh (all of 20 Mechanised Regiment, Bikaner) and Ajay Kumar and R.B. Singh of 67 Engineer Regiment.

Fire tenders were rushed from Bikaner and Suratgarh to put out the fire at the east camp of the firing range. PTI

Woman in labour, doc at farewell
Deputy Commissioner seeks report
J. S. Malhotra

Jalandhar, May 2
The tall claims of the state government with regard to providing better health care services to the people notwithstanding, a Scheduled Caste pregnant woman had to face hardship in delivering a child on Tuesday morning due to alleged negligence on the part of doctors of the local Civil Hospital.

Ironically, despite the orders of the local Deputy Commissioner asking the Civil Surgeon to submit a detailed report by Thursday after conducting a thorough probe into the allegations of negligence levelled by the husband of the patient, the latter has failed to respond so far.

Mr Kashmir Singh Ghugshor of Kartarpur in his complaint to the Deputy Commissioner yesterday alleged that his wife, Mrs Balwinder Kaur, was admitted to the local Civil Hospital on Tuesday morning for a delivery. Though he started searching for the doctor on duty in all parts of the hospital after Balwinder started undergoing labour pains late in the afternoon, he was told that the doctor had gone to attend a farewell party of a hospital employee and was bluntly told to wait for some time.

Mr Ghugshor further alleged that his wife was crying in pain for about three hours but none of the doctors present at that time in the hospital lent a helping hand in the absence of Dr Neelam, House Surgeon. “I went to the emergency ward where the nursing staff, too, declined to attend to my wife on the pretext that they were on emergency duty,” he alleged.

“Since I belong to a poor family and am a Scheduled Caste, nobody in the hospital listened to my pleas even as my wife continued to cry due to labour pains. The indifferent attitude of the hospital staff has virtually shaken me,” rued a visibly upset Mr Ghugshor.

Meanwhile, Balwinder started delivering the child on the bed itself and a Class IV employee came to their rescue after listening to her cries. “After sensing trouble, Dr Neelam came and hurriedly ordered my wife — who could not even stand due to pains — to walk to the operating theatre. On my intervention, a stretcher was arranged for carrying her to the theatre. She delivered a girl child,” said Mr Ghugshor, adding that his wife faced hardship due to the inhuman attitude of the doctor.

He further alleged that he was asked by the doctor to bring hand gloves, cotton, some injections and other medicines to conduct the delivery of the child. “Why is the Health Department not keeping on adequate stock of medicines at its hospitals and is forcing the poor patients to pay for medicines?” he said.

Efforts to contact the Civil Surgeon, Dr P.L. Goel, proved futile as his staff said that he was busy and did not want to talk to mediapersons on this issue. The Medical Superintendent, Dr Surinder Kaur, said there was no need to send a report to the Deputy Commissioner since he had only asked to conduct an inquiry.

“A compromise has been reached between the doctor and the affected party after the former tendered an apology this afternoon. Mr Ghugshor has decided not to pursue the matter further. Besides, there is no shortage of medicine stocks at the hospital. We only asked him to purchase a cotton bundle and a catgut set, which was not available with us,” she added. Mr Ghugshor, however, maintained that there was no possibility of compromising on the issue. He demanded strict action against the erring doctor.

The Deputy Commissioner, Mr K. Siva Prasad was not available for comments.