Phagwara, Augusts 28
Despite the state government’s tall claims of a major crackdown on the sale of substandard drugs and quackery, the menace goes on unabated in the town.

During its investigations, The Tribune found that drugs, intoxicants and substandard generic medicines were being openly sold by several chemists. Interestingly, all this is happening right under the nose of the authorities. When asked, Kapurthala civil surgeon Ashok Nayyar admitted that drugs and intoxicants were available at general stores and even at paan and juice shops.

Expressing his helplessness, the chief medical officer said the health department was dependent on police support. However, he assured that the department would take the necessary action. Nayyar said all senior medical officers have been told to keep close tabs on the sale of drugs and intoxicants.

Regarding quackery, the CMO said the shortage of drug inspectors had made it difficult to check the menace. “But we are soon going to launch a large-scale drive against it,” he added.

Talking about the sale of generic medicines at several chemist shops, especially near civil hospitals, the CMO clarified that these drugs could be sold, but they shouldn’t be substandard.

Meanwhile, a comparison between generic and branded medicines revealed a major price difference. While 100 generic Paracetamol tablets were available for Rs 16, the same would cost Rs 90 if one goes for those made by some known pharmaceutical firm. Similarly, Voveran tablets under generic category were available for Rs 12 per 100 tablets, while in the standard category it costs Rs 200 per 100 tablets.

At some places, it was observed that generic medicines were being openly sold at the rate of branded medicines to make a fast buck. When asked, Punjab Health System Corporation managing director T.R. Sarangal said the matter was not under his jurisdiction. The health minister could not be contacted.

Jalandhar, August 28
Students and faculty members of mechanical engineering from the CT Institute of Engineering and Management claim to have made a bio-diesel reactor which can be run on a commercial diesel engine for power generation and various agricultural applications.

Head of the mechanical engineering department Dr S.K. Malha said the bio-diesel was an in-house production, created from jatropha, linseed and rice bran oil. It had been tested to run a Mahindra jeep. He said the results were very different from those of the regular diesel engines, as it produced similar power outputs but with much reduced emissions of harmful gases.

The HoD said the engine was a result of collective efforts of third year mechanical engineering students and senior lecturer Arvind Birdi and lecturer Nandan Oberoi.

Jalandhar, August 28
The IVF-ET or test-tube baby method has been considered to be an excellence in the medical science because this technique helps those married couples to have children where the women are not able to conceive for one reason or the other. One such case was executed at Vardaan Medical Centre here.

Balbir Kaur, wife of Avtar Singh of Kukkar Pind, near here, gave birth to a daughter about 18 months ago after attaining pregnancy through the IVF technique performed by doctors at Vardaan.

This case was a unique one as the husband was a paralytic and the wife a deaf. The woman has again delivered a child, but this time by attaining pregnancy naturally.

Centre director Vareesh Kumar said in another case of IVF-ET a patient from Canada, Ramanpreet, wife of Tejinder Singh, had conceived quadruplets.

“The pregnancy is now 10-week long. If the woman is able to carry all the four babies and give birth to them, she would become the first Indian living in Canada for having given birth to quadruplets,” said Vareesh Kumar.

Meanwhile, a team of centre doctors, led by Dr Lakhvinder Singh, removed a 2.25 kg fibroid from the uterus of a unmarried patient from Ludhiana. The laparoscopic surgery on this 31-year-old lecturer from Ludhiana lasted four and a half hours to remove the fibroid.

Jalandhar, August 28
A team of Big FM staff, including radio jockeys, spent the last Sunday with around 30 inmates of Rashtriya Andh Vidyalaya here.

Various games were played with them and the visually challenged inmates were also given prizes. Rj Mamta anchored the “antakshri” show between the two teams; Rj Sugandha performed “teesmarkhan”. Her tongue twisters sent ripples of laughter and Rj Vikas played his shows of “panga” and “guppebaz”.

Rashtriya Andh Vidyalaya is a hostel-cum-school being run with charities from public.

The students stay there up to the age of 20 and study up to class VIII. With no support from the government, the institute is facing a lot of problems, particularly concerning funds.Missing Daughters

It is a myth in Punjab that nurturing a girl is like watering a neighbour’s plant. She is a bad investment, whereas a son is like buying insurance for the old age.

Veena Thareja, a mother of three daughters, feels that instead of boys, girls are generally more attached with their parents and are more likely to look after them in their old age.

She substantiates her views with the English proverb: a son is a son till comes the wife, a daughter is a daughter all her life.

People in Punjab have traditionally shown preference for sons and would do anything to ensure the birth of a son. The recent reports indicate that in a son-hungry state of Punjab, the number of girls, in comparison to boys, has fallen drastically in the past two decades.

Thanks to the pre-natal diagnostic techniques. It is ironical that the scanning machines, which were used to ensure the well being and growth of the foetus, have turned out to be a murder weapon. Tajinder Singh Bhasin, assistant professor in the pathology department of Guru Ram Dass Medical College, Amritsar, puts forward his views that woman patronises scan centres.

So many of them come without any pressure from the family to know about the sex of the child. If it is female, they want to get it removed. Medical professionals who promote scanning to determine the sex of the foetus represent the worst conditions for female survival.

They are fully aware of the social and medical consequences of repeated sex selective abortions. There is a dire need to inculcate a strong ethical code of conduct among professionals who indulge in such heinous medical malpractices.

In the wake of the existing scenario, the womb has become the most unsafe place on the earth for daughters. Ravilkamal, a lecturer in Khalsa College, Jalandhar, says the attack on the foetus does not begin in the womb, but begins in the mind of the human beings. “More importantly, we need to change the mindset of the people by delving into the deep-seated attitudes and practices against women,” she said.

Consequently, there are several unanswerable questions, which somewhere touch one’s conscience. Why sons are required over girls? Why woman is facing a threat to her very existence? Why is she denied the right to life and right to social security in a country that claims to be culturally rich? When a woman kills her daughter, who is the victim? It is time to give new treatment to these questions by introspecting where we have gone wrong.

The only long-term solution to this self-destructive act is to change attitude. In addition, it is only by a combination of monitoring, educational campaigns and effective legal implementations we can ensure to remove this deep-rooted prejudice and discrimination against the girl child.

(The writer is a lecturer in English at Lyallpur Khalsa College, Jalandhar)