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Steep rise in number of AIDS patients
Residents seek Governor’s intervention
Fresh warrants against minister in ‘land grab’ case
Road digging work paralyses normal life
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Steep rise in number of AIDS patients
Hamirpur, December 27 The total number of patients tested positive at the Voluntary Counselling and Testing Centre
(VCTC), from January till today, has shot up to 77, from the last year’s figure of 40, said Dr
K.C.Kaushal, Medical Superintendent of the District Government Hospital, who is also in-charge of the
centre. The rise, he said, was also an indicator of the growing awareness about the disease among people who volunteered to get themselves tested. “These include cases whose spouses died due to the virus or patients who are referred here from dispensaries,” said Dr
Kaushal. The centre, which is located in the district hospital, gets around 20 suspected cases per month, which, if proved positive, are given counselling on how to cope with the deadly virus. A total of 204 patients have been tested for AIDS at the centre so far, of which, 77 were found HIV positive. “Recently, we had a two-years-old child from a nearby village and it was a tough task to console and advise the family,” said Anil Kumar, a counsellor at the
centre. “The rise in the number of cases could also be because people, who would have otherwise remained hidden cases, are now volunteering to get tested,” he said. Deputy Commissioner Devesh Kumar blamed the high number on the floating population of truck drivers and ex-servicemen who move out of the district for employment. “It is unfortunate that the district has the highest number of AIDS cases in the state,” he said. “But we are taking steps to spread awareness by involving different NGOs. For instance, students are being informed by holding awareness programmes for Classes XI and XII students in schools. The village panchayats are also being involved in the
programmes. We are sure that the trend would soon show reversal in the district,” he added. Another official informed that the first AIDS case in the state was also detected in village Seongta village in Hamirpur district. “There is need to take the different government schemes to the general public so that they do not remain on paper,” he said. As per the records of the
VCTC, most suspected AIDS cases belong to the age group of 15 to 30 in case of women and 30 to 44 in case of men. “Those who come to us voluntarily to get tested are first given pre-test counselling and once the report comes from
Shimla, they are given post-test tips to tackle the disease in case they are found positive. It is more about helping them get over the psychological and social stigma,” said Anil Kumar. |
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Residents seek Governor’s intervention
Shimla, December 27 Though the staff of the MC did not undertake any demolition in the town today but representatives of the dhara owners, who are being evicted from the encroached land, met the Governor. “This action by the MC has rendered some people homeless in the Lal Bagh area near Kaithu and if the MC is not stopped thousands of people will be on the roads with no shelter in this biting cold,” the memorandum said. The action committee, in a representation to the Municipal Commissioner, warned that in case the MC did not announce suspension of the eviction drive, water supply and cleanliness of the town would be brought to a standstill. The Governor, Mr V.S. Kokje, today sought detailed information about the demolition drive being undertaken by the MC, as its Commissioner, Mr Mohan Chauhan, apprised him of the latest position. They pleaded that a majority of the dhara owners had been living in these houses for more than two decades and the timing of the MC action had even affected students who are having their examinations. They said a majority of the people whose name figured in the list of encroachers were from the reserved category and did not have the resources to make alternative arrangement. Meanwhile the state secretary of the CPM, Mr Rakesh Singha, also submitted a separate memorandum to the Governor, seeking his intervention to stop the injustice being done to thousands of poor people. He said the sheds in which these people had been living were almost 30 years old and, moreover, they had been provided with water, electricity and telephone connections. He pointed out that the government had not made provision for alternative place for those to be evicted. The MC authorities said though no eviction had been done today, the demolition drive would be continued. |
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Fresh warrants against minister in ‘land grab’ case
Chamba, December 27 The court asked the Superintendent of Police, Chamba, to ensure the fresh warrants being issued against Ms Asha Kumari for January 4 next year were executed and court further directed that a police officer not below the rank of an Inspector should be deputed to comply with the orders of the court passed today. The court has also issued a show-cause notice to the Assistant Sub-inspector Mr Daulat Ram who was entrusted with the bailable warrants issued against Ms Asha Kumari earlier and it was observed by the court that efforts were not made by the police for executing the warrants issued against the minister. Mr D.P. Malhotra, Advocate, against whom the show-cause notice was issued by the court for not producing Ms Asha Kumari in the court on December 10, also filed a reply and tendered unqualified apology, but the court ordered that the plea would be considered at the next hearing. One of the accused, Prakash Chand, son of Bairagi, was also not present in the court as he was exempted on an application filed on this behalf. Now the case has been listed for January 4, 2005. Earlier, the Enforcement Department of the Government of Himachal Pradesh had filed a criminal case against some persons including Ms Asha Kumari, Education Minister of Himachal Pradesh, and her husband Mr Brijendra Singh, scion of the erstwhile State of Chamba, three years ago. It was alleged that they in connivance with revenue staff and other persons had grabbed a valuable piece of land measuring about 67 bighas at Jandrighat in the outer suburbs of Dalhousie of the district. |
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Road digging work paralyses normal life
Hamirpur, December 27 The road digging work was started in the last week of October. However, the work had already been done in the same unscientific manner in other parts of the town. Worst affected is the Hamirpur-Anu link road. It is difficult for the pedestrians to cross through this patch of road. No concrete steps have been taken neither by the local civic body or the Department of Irrigation-cum-Public Health to repair the link road. Both departments blame each other for not doing the repair work. The Hamirpur-Shimla highways authorities have now swung into action following a large-scale complaints by the local people and they have started removing encroachments on their land and repair of the damaged portion of the road. Local people are, however, unhappy with the sewage pipe-laying operation. They allege that the work has been done in a haphazard manner and the state government was to be blamed for this. The BJP has demanded a CBI inquiry into the allocation of work to undeserving persons. The party has sent a memorandum to the Governor in this respect, according to Mr Pyere Lal Sharma, district BJP chief. |
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Hamirpur bus stand is congested
Hamirpur, December 27 The main bus stand here on the Hamirpur-Shimla highways was constructed in 1977 as the first A-class bus stand of the state by the then Janata Party government. Since then, many changes have been seen in the town and the district as a result it has become a major hub of political and educational activity. However, nothing concrete had been done to expand the bus stand or to find a site for a new bus stand here. Though the work for the by pass has been sanctioned by the Central Government, yet no new site has yet been selected for having a bus stand for the town on that road. The present bus stand is congested and is always overcrowded. This is due to the increasing number of private buses. On many occasions, fatal accidents have taken place in the bus stand complex because of overcrowding and haphazard parking of buses. Local people want another bus stand on the bypass road to ease the load of the traffic on the existing bus stand and to provide them good facilities at both places. An official spokesman told The Tribune here today that so for no proposal for a new bus stand complex here had been mooted. |
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Major fire averted in HPSEB office
Hamirpur, December 27 The fire was caused by a short circuit. Mr S.K. Gupta, Senior Executive Engineer, refused to give details of the damage caused due to fire. He said the matter was being investigated. A clerk working in the computer room first noticed the fire and raised an alarm. Two fire tenders reached the spot and extinguished fire. This was the second fire incident in the office this year. In the earlier incident, board property worth several lakhs was destroyed. |
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