B A T H I N D A    E D I T I O N

Course for rural doctors criticised
Bathinda, January 12
The decision of the Centre to create a fresh cadre of short duration course doctors for the rural areas has come under criticism by the medical fraternity. Dr Amrit Sethi, an ophthalmologist and the former president of the Punjab chapter of Indian Medical Association (IMA), today described the move as “ill-conceived”.

Sunder Mundriye, Ho!: Students of Swami Vivekananda Girls College dance around a bonfire to celebrate Lohri in Bathinda on Tuesday. Tribune photo: Pawan Sharma

Four-laning of Bathinda-Chd national highway on the cards
Bathinda, January 12
The Bathinda Development Authority and the Forest Department are going to develop a pavement along with installation of lights, fencing and benches, around one of the lakes of the local thermal power plant.

Special trains for Kumbh, Maghi Mela
Abohar/Fazilka, January 12
The railway has decided to run Mela Special, in view of Kumbh Mela, from Sriganganagar to Haridwar on January 13 and 14 and also from Haridwar to Sriganganagar on January 14 and 15, said railway sources.

Course for rural doctors criticised
SP Sharma
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, January 12
The decision of the Centre to create a fresh cadre of short duration course doctors for the rural areas has come under criticism by the medical fraternity. Dr Amrit Sethi, an ophthalmologist and the former president of the Punjab chapter of Indian Medical Association (IMA), today described the move as “ill-conceived”.

He said the three-and-half-year medical course would produce quacks thereby putting the lives of rural folk to risk. By creating a separate course of Bachelor Rural Medical Science (BRMS), the “country is being sacrificed for cheap political gimmicks”.

Half-baked doctors, in addition to the hordes of quacks already existing, will hold the health sector at ransom. The government is creating two classes of citizens by providing healthcare with the help of regular doctors in urban areas and semi-trained ones in rural areas.

Dr Sethi warned that the BRMS was not a solution to the need of the villagers. The IMA would strongly oppose the “retrograde and undemocratic” step. The Centre should take steps to provide quality medical care in rural areas instead of creating separate standards of health care for the urban and rural citizens. The central Health and Family Welfare Department and the Medical Council of India (MCI) had, over a period of time, abolished medical diplomas like LMP, LIAM, LCPS, MCPS etc to ensure that every citizen was provided with uniform quality of healthcare.

He said introducing a short duration course to produce doctors was unfortunate at a time when the Nursing Council of India was phasing out its three-and-half-year general nursing and midwifery course and was insisting on B Sc nursing course of five years.

The BRMS would encourage backdoor MBBS cadre and promote quackery, he alleged. The decision was not a remedy to the malady of shortage of doctors in the rural areas, he added.

Four-laning of Bathinda-Chd national highway on the cards
Rajay Deep
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, January 12
The Bathinda Development Authority and the Forest Department are going to develop a pavement along with installation of lights, fencing and benches, around one of the lakes of the local thermal power plant.

Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal and his wife MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal today laid the foundation stone of the project costing Rs 60 lakh with a promise to develop the lake on the lines of Sukhna in Chandigarh and Dal and Nagin lakes in Srinagar. Talking to media, Sukhbir said he had spoken to the secretary, Tourism, to check the feasibility of starting ‘shikaras’ and houseboats in the lake, the report of which would be submitted to him within a fortnight.

He maintained that the four-laning of the Bathinda-Chandigarh national highway had been sanctioned and the PWD officials had assured him of starting the job soon. “Work on the civil aviation terminal at Bhisiana in Bathinda is also on the right track and hopefully, flights would start by the mid of this year,” he added.

On the status of other pending projects, Sukhbir said he had been holding meetings with the district administration to review their progress.

It may be mentioned that at the end of 2009, the Central government cleared a long-pending proposal of the state government to develop district landmarks here as tourist destinations. After sanctioning Rs 344 lakh for four destinations, the Centre released Rs 275 lakh (80 per cent) to be spent on the Qila Mubarak (Bathinda Fort), the historical temple at Maesar Khana, artificially developed Jaipalgarh village and to develop the Bir Talab zoo. Later, Sukhbir and Harsimrat held a Sangat Darshan at Gonaina Mandi.

Special trains for Kumbh, Maghi Mela
Tribune Reporters

Abohar/Fazilka, January 12
The railway has decided to run Mela Special, in view of Kumbh Mela, from Sriganganagar to Haridwar on January 13 and 14 and also from Haridwar to Sriganganagar on January 14 and 15, said railway sources.

The 15-coach non-reserved trains will leave Sriganganagar at 5 pm and reach Haridwar the next morning by 4.10 am. It will have a brief halt at Abohar, Malout, Gidderbaha, Bathinda, Barnala, Dhuri, Patiala, Ambala Cantt, Jagadhari and Saharanpur.

On return, the trains will leave Haridwar by 10.40 am and reach Sriganganagar at 7.30 pm on the same day.

The railway will also run special trains, in view of Maghi Mela, being organised in Muktsar, on January 13 and 14. The train will start its journey from Fazilka at 7 am and will reach Muktsar at 8 am. The train will be terminated at Bathinda at 10.15 am. On return, the special train will start from Bathinda at 3.30 pm and reach Fazilka at 7.10 pm.