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Medical waste poses health risk in Kangra
Missing Australian: Parents announce reward
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Kangra Polytechnic ‘best’ in North India
Horticulture Mission motivates farmers to grow fruits
Govt employees assure cooperation
Youth empowerment camp at Sujanpur
Public grievances camp held in Bilaspur
Central varsity holds international meet on sociology of law
State gears up for Navratras
Thefts on the rise in Dharamsala
Mandi District Library in neglect
Himachal diary
Vignettes
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Medical waste poses health risk in Kangra
Palampur, September 13 In the absence of any treatment plant in the region, it has been noticed that the liquid waste from the hospitals here has been finding its way into drains and streams while the solid waste is being disposed of at municipal dumping grounds. The indiscriminate disposal of bio-medical waste by private and public medical institutions in the district has become a major health hazard for the local population. Despite the fact that Kangra is the biggest district of the state having a large number of medical institutions, there is no provision for the scientific handling of bio-medical waste. At present, most of hazardous and non-hazardous waste is being thrown into khuds and streams which are a major source of drinking water for the people living in the lower areas. Water of these streams is tapped for the drinking water supply schemes. The Irrigation and Public Health Department also taps water from these streams for agriculture purposes. The Dreaded diseases such as cancer, hepatitis, jaundice, typhoid etc spread through contaminated water and medical waste is a potential source of it. The incidence of such In view of the indiscriminate disposal of bio-medical waste and increasing concern on the health and environment, the Central government had also taken up the issue on a priority. In a step in this direction, amendments were made to the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, in 2004 and 2006. Subsequently, Bio-Medical Waste Management and Handling Rules were forwarded to the states for compliance. These rules provide for a control on the generation and handling of all medical waste. However, medical institutions and the municipal councils of Palampur, Kangra, Nagrota Bagwan, Dharmshala and panchayats of Baijnath and Paproala are openly flouting these rules by dumping the medical waste in fresh water streams. The district administration, which is well conversant with the situation, has become a silent spectator. Despite spending crores of rupees on the protection and conservation of environment, the state has been facing a serious environmental threat, but nothing has been done in this regard so far.
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Missing Australian: Parents announce reward
Kullu, September 13 Though the Parbati Valley in this district was given names like “the Valley of Death” and “maneater” due to over 12 missing foreigners in a span of 20 years since 1991, the police feels that most of the unsolved cases are of the foreign nationals who were not registered with the police. The new case of missing foreign national is from Rishikesh in Uttarakhand. Ryan Chambers (21) of Australia has been missing since 2005. His father Jock and mother Dianne reached Kullu last Friday to look for their missing son. They said they were hopeful of his being alive and would keep conducting search operations to find him. The case appears similar to that of the Austrian who intentionally went missing as the sentimental mother revealed that the lines mentioned in Ryan’s diary left in the Rishikesh Ashram stated, "If I am gone, I am not dead. I am freeing minds, but first I have to free my own”. A hopeful Dianne says, “Had my son disappeared from Australia for such a long period, I would have lost all the hope. But the culture of India to adopt outsiders makes me believe that
my son is alive and is somewhere in India.” Jock and Dianne along with a friend will conduct search operations in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Ryan went missing from the Sri Ved Niketan Ashram in Rishikesh on 24 August, 2005, she added. The Chambers family is visiting India for the fourth time. Besides making efforts, the family plans to meet the local police and government officials appealing them to help in finding Ryan. They said they had already met Deputy Commissioner BM Nanta and SP Abhishekh Dular. An emotional Dianne said “We miss him badly” and announced Rs 10 lakh reward for information leading to her son’s safe return.
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Kangra Polytechnic ‘best’ in North India
Kangra, September 13 Prof MK Surappa, director, IIT Ropar, presented the award to Verma. Dr KM Rastogi, director, in charge NITTTR, appreciated the efforts of Government Polytechnic, Kangra, in achieving this award. Earlier, a two-member NITTTR team, comprising GB Pandey, senior producer, and Viney Vadhera, senior visualiser, had visited the polytechnic here and verified the administrative, academics and infrastructure parameters. Verma was given a rousing reception by the staff
and students of the polytechnic here on his arrival after receiving the award. He said 21 polytechnics had applied from nine states of the country for the award, but Kangra Polytechnic excelled on all fronts. He said, “For this performance-based award, the credit goes to both students and the staff”. The staff and the students, however, thanked the principal for his dynamic leadership for this achievement. Verma said the polytechnic was ISO 9001-2008 certified. Besides, it had several achievements in sports and placements. The polytechnic with two MODROB Projects in the field of computer and mechanical engineering had done well in academics, he added. It is worth mentioning that in 2008, Government Polytechnic, Rohru, received this award when Verma, a recipient of the Rashtriya Vidya Sarswati Puraskar, was its principal.
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Horticulture Mission motivates farmers to grow fruits
Nurpur, September 13 According to Karnail Guleria, Horticulture Development Officer, Nurpur, the Horticulture Department had given Rs 19.16 lakh subsidy under the mission to the growers for setting up 10 polyhouses in the area in the past three years. “The department has also given Rs 5.35 lakh subsidy to 35 growers for setting up vermicompost fertiliser units. Apart from this, the department has also provided power tillers, water-lifting motors and sprinkle irrigation facility to the growers for the proper management of orchards,” he said. Enquires reveal that around 5,100 farmers have adopted fruit growing in Nurpur block. Vegetable and flower cultivation in the area has also made strides and the farmers have diversified their cash crops by growing vegetables and flowers in a big way for better earning in the past few years.
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Public Service Guarantee Act
Bilaspur, September 13 This was stated in a unanimous resolution of the state executive committee meeting of the federation here which was presided by its state president Ram Singh. Ram Singh told mediapersons that this law would bring efficiency, transparency and responsiveness in the functioning of all departments and would force shirkers to complete the task at the earliest. This would help improve the image of the government departments. The state federation, however, stressed that non-filling of a large number of posts which had fallen vacant due to retirements and deaths had increased the workload for the existing employees in face of a number of new schemes like RTI. It said the government should look into the problems of the employees if this wholesome and revolutionary law was to be implemented in letter and spirit. The meeting demanded that before this law became applicable, the government should ensure that all vacant posts were filled and special posts were created to deal the RTI applications. If no additional staff was posted, this law would only remain a dream to be implemented by those who presently find no time even to deal their routine government responsibilities. The employees said a delay in responding to the public complaints was not only due to reasons which forced the government to adopt this measure, but also due to the fact that there was hardly any staff available to deal with the routine work. This anomaly must be removed at the earliest. The federation demanded that a meeting of the state joint consultative committee should be summoned at the earliest. Other demands included payment of arrears of revised pay scales in one go, benefits of 4, 9, 14 years of service, grant of allowances as given by the Punjab government to its employees and enhancement of retirement age to 60 years for all categories of employees. The meeting was attended by some a number of representative of various NGOs from all parts of state. Besides, office-bearers of the federation, including secretary general Dilip Bhatia, senior vice-president Shival Thakur, vice-president Amar Nath Khurana, finance secretary Rajesh, state secretary Chaman Sharma, state adviser Sudershan Sharma, chief adviser Ashok Sharma, press secretary Pravin Thakur, organising secretary Pradip Chaudhary and Malkit Singh Chandel and Ram Lal Sharma, president and general secretary, respectively, of the Bilaspur District Association, were also present.
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Youth empowerment camp at Sujanpur
Hamirpur, September 13 According to the organisations, Sarva kalyan Kari Sabha and Rajinder Rana Friends Club, the main purpose of organising this camp was to provide information to students and unemployed youth regarding various career options and give them basic tips to prepare for various employment opportunities. The NGOs had invited Prof AK Vashisht from Panjab University, Chandigarh, and Prof Devinder from Law College, Chandigarh, as the resource persons. Both these experts gave tips to the youths and students regarding choosing the right career. A large number of youth turned up and sought information regarding various career options. There was a great enthusiasm among the youth present at the camp. Rajinder Rana, president, Sarva Kalyan Kari Sabha, said the organisation had taken an initiative to organise the youth empowerment camp to prepare them for promising career and enhancing their employability by providing them expert advice. He said since there was a lack of awareness among the youth of the area about various job opportunities, the organisation had tried to empower them through the camp. The organisation also honoured students who had excelled in the field of academics and sports on this occasion and gave them prizes.
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Public grievances camp held in Bilaspur
Bilaspur, September 13 Chauhan told the audience about various government schemes. He said detailed information can be gathered from the concerned local officers and field staff of Agriculture, Horticulture, Animal Husbandry, Women Empowerment and Child Welfare, Block Development Office and allied departments. He said such camps were benefiting villagers as they were getting solutions to their problems on their doorsteps. This is saving money, time, effort and harassment. He said this is “democracy at work at village level”. A number of district officers addressed the camp and gave details of the government schemes and financial aid provided for self-employment and training. Chauhan expressed satisfaction that 152 cases of grievances, out of total 280 cases, were solved on the spot in this camp, while the remaining 128 cases were handed over to the concerned district officers. Representatives of gram panchayats, including those of adjoining Chakoh, Shikroha, Suin Surhaad, Saai Kharsi and Rani Kotla, were present along with hundreds of farmers. Many district officers, including Bilaspur Sadar SDM Sandip Kadam, Chief Medical Officer Sudershan Sharma, Regional Transport officer Sunil Kumar and ASP Bhagat Singh Varma, were also present. — OC
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Central varsity holds international meet on sociology of law
Dharamsala, September 13 The social scientists from India and abroad deliberated on how law emerges from the society and the impact of cross-cultural migration on the law of various countries. Vice-Chancellor of the Central University, Himachal Pradesh, Furqan Qamar said the conference of the RCSL was being organised for the first time in India. Qamar said that the Centre wants to invite private investment in the field of the higher education. However, the private sector wants the government to ensure the recovery of cost in building and operating the infrastructure. Vittorio Olgiati, president of RCSL, said the RCSL was established in 1962 at the initiative of William M Evan from the University of Pennysylvania and Adam Podgorecki from the University of Warsaw. The organisation has been working for development of the subject ‘Sociology of Law’ by encouraging young researchers from across the world to carry out research work in the field. He also announced that the RCSL annual award for lifetime achievement in the field was being given this year to Professor David Nelson. Professor Syed Mehdi, former VC of the Jamia Islamia University in Delhi, was the chief guest on the occasion. He said the terminology ‘Developed and Developing Countries’ has become redundant in today’s scenario. Now the new terminology of tri-continents has come up to explain the division of countries across the world. The tri-continents include Europe and USA as one continent, Latin America and Africa as another continent and Asia as the third continent. He said a study by the Citi bank has brought out the fact that richest one percent of the society in the US earned equal to 60 per cent at the bottom of the social pyramid. Lobsang Sangay, newly elected Tibetan Prime Minister in-exile, chaired the first plenary session of the conference on the Sociology of Law on Peace. He said if the social aspect of development in Tibet is considered, development there cannot be termed as justice. In the plenary session, Professor Robert Rosen from USA read her research paper on “Forgiveness: Jewish Perspectives on Reconciliation”. The other two researchers who read their papers were Professor IH Azad Faruqi on peace through empowerment of minorities and marginalised and Professor Hideki Tarumoto from Japan on, Reconciliation, Migration and citizenship from an Asian Perspective. Reading her paper on Climate Justice, Madhuri Sharma of UILS, Punjab University, Chandigarh said that the gaping north-south divide among nations of the world must end immediately. Madhuri presented a revealing contrast among different countries regarding carbon emissions.
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State gears up for Navratras
Dharamsala, September 13 Keeping in view a huge rush of devotees from far-flung areas during the forthcoming sharad navratras, the administration has been busy these days preparing arrangements for security, parking, night halts, shelters, langars and special poojas. SDM Kumud Singh said, “Other than routine arrangements, special attention is being paid to parking facility keeping in view the huge rush of devotees here during the upcoming festive period. Parking sites have been earmarked to avoid traffic congestion in collaboration with the police department.” Health services, including ayurvedic and allopathy treatments, would be available at the compound and also the vaccines for monkey bites would be available on the spot, said the SDM.
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Thefts on the rise in Dharamsala
Dharamsala, September 13 Daljeet Thakur, Kangra SP, claims that the police has tracked the names of gangs from J&K and Punjab who have been active in the district. As per the records, 37 per cent property has been recovered in 100 cases of thefts and burglary in the past seven months. As many as 13 cases have been reported in the past two weeks. “We suspect that the involvement of interstate gangs has led to an increase in the anti-social activities in the district. These gangs become active during religious congregations and fairs and involve in vehicle thefts, ATM burglaries etc,” claims the SP. He also claims, “We have arrested a few from the neighbouring states and recovered stolen vehicles from them. Special investigating units have also been sent to these states which have been working with the police there in busting gangs of criminals”. The number of police personnel have been increased for night patrolling and guidelines have been issued to hotel owners, shopkeepers etc to install CCTV cameras. Besides, special drives have been launched by the Kangra police to help check the crime rate. A drive against rash and negligence driving has also been launched. A strict vigil on vehicles under this drive also helps nab vehicle thieves, claims the police.
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Mandi District Library in neglect
Mandi, September 13 Besides rampant leakage problem from toilets and water pipes on the first floor of the building, which houses the SP’s office, the library, established in 1959, is surviving on a paltry Rs 10,000 which is equal to the annual expenditure on newspapers and magazines by the Directorate of Education. The books are donated to the library by a Delhi-based trust from time to time. Besides, visitors and library staff fear for their life as the switch room of the mini-secretariat is located next to that of the librarian. Moreover, there is no guard or attendant on Sundays. Most of the rooms, including the high-voltage room, and toilets face the problem of seepage which has further made the library unsafe for the visitors and the staff. Stench greets the visitors as dirty sewage water keeps leaking from the toilets of the upper floors, which is also damaging the books. The reference section has turned into a pool of dirty water due to the seepage problem. The library staff had sent a proposal of Rs 2.40 lakh for repair and maintenance, but it has been gathering dust at the DC office. As per the norms, a library should be located in an open building where there is no moisture, but none is bothered to take care of the prized property of the town, rues Dinu Kashyap, president, Progressive Writers’ Association. Some members take books but never return them while in some cases pages go missing, rue local students, who visit the library regularly. “It is suffocating here as there is seepage and most of the books emit foul smell,” rue the students. There is no facility of toilets in the library as the two toilets have been locked due to the leakage problem. The staff members wash hands in a corner of a dilapidated room. The furniture is also in a bad shape while completely damaged furniture items have been stocked in a corner which gives the library a shabby look. The outer drains and backyard of the mini-secretariat building is in the worst condition. Heaps of cigarette butts can be seen lying all over. Besides, district court stamp vendors and documents writers, who sit in front of the gate of the library, present a chaotic picture. The noise and stink invade the readers and staff inside the library everyday. Expressing helplessness, Sudesh Gupta said they had brought the problem to the notice of the Municipal Council and the PWD, in June, but noting had been done so far.
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Himachal diary
Driving on the slushy roads full of potholes is a nightmare, particularly in some stretches near the Auckland tunnel, Sanjauli bypass and the
Tutikandi-New Shimla stretch of the national highway. The total loss in the area under the municipal corporation and Shimla Circle of the Public Works Department covering up to Theog has been estimated at over Rs 10
crore. The situation would have been worse if the state had a bumper apple crop like last year. With the total production likely to be around 1.50 crore boxes, almost one-third of last year, not many trucks were required and the people were spared the irritating traffic jams despite bad conditions of roads. Unlike last year, when over 1,300 apple-laden trucks left the state every day during peak season, this year only 400 vehicles were being sent to various markets daily. Municipal Commissioner AN Sharma said the total loss was likely to be over Rs 1 crore in the municipal area alone, the exact figure would be worked out by the end of the month when the rains stop. The monsoon season is not over yet and the region is witnessing rain and landslides regularly. The mercury has also plummeted as higher reaches have already experienced a few spells of snow. As such the authorities will get very little time for repair and resurfacing of the damaged roads.
Food adulteration
The state civil supplies authorities have failed to take deterrent action against unscrupulous traders under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act. Over the past three years, over 570 samples of various food items like wheat flour, pulses, edible oil and salt have failed, but the offenders have been let off by imposing a nominal fine. The department has recovered over Rs 3 lakh as fine, but no one has been convicted for the offence. The items being supplied through the public distribution system are of poor quality as evident from the repeated failures of samples. All that the department does is to blacklist the suppliers whose samples fail and impose a fine. The maximum complaints pertain to substandard wheat flour and salt and the samples of these two commodities have been failing repeatedly. While the petty traders should not be harassed, the government must take action against the bulk suppliers as unchecked food adulteration will ultimately affect the health of the people. Habitual offenders must be proceeded against under the law.
Problem of plenty
The state’s apex health institution, Indira Gandhi Medical College, is finding it hard to cope with the increasing rush of patients, particularly those requiring to undergo diagnostic procedures like ultrasound tests. On an average, 90 to 100 ultrasound tests are conducted, but the number of patients is much higher. As a result, the backlog is increasing and a patient has to wait for over two months and the waiting list has swelled to around 3,000. The situation is deteriorating as two out of the four machines are out of order.
Free health check-up
The
RKMV, Shimla, organised a two-day free health check-up camp in collaboration with the Regional Ayurvedic Hospital, Chotta
Shimla. The students and staff members were examined in the camp and free medicines were also distributed. Teams of specialists from the hospitals, interns and postgraduate students from Paprola Ayurvedic College conducted the camp under the guidance of Medical Superintendent, Regional Aurvedic
Centre, Surender Sharma. The results of anaemic investigations revealed that 9 girls were moderately and 284 girls were mildly
anaemic. Over 1,700 students and staff members underwent anaemic investigations. Principal of the college Naresh Mahajan said the camp had not only helped in investigations of diseases, but also created awareness among girls about health and proper diet. (Contributed by Rakesh
Lohumi)
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Vignettes
Princely states have vanished after the Independence. Many other institutions have also disappeared and many new have come up. The three services, Indian Administrative Service; Indian Forest Service and Indian Police Service were formed and all had a distinct role to play. Sardar Vallbhbhai Patel is the “patron saint” of the services as he guided the establishment of modern all-India services. The IAS, a modified version of the ICS, was to handle the daily affairs of the government, including framing and implementation of policies in consultation with the minister-in-charge of the ministry or the department concerned. Though the first Police Commission of 1865 lays emphasis on the enforcement of law on police officers, their functions have been revised by the government after the Independence. The duties now are based on broader responsibilities of independent India. The Indian Forest Service is the youngest of the three and was created in 1966 for the protection, conservation and regeneration of forest resources. The role of three all-India services were clearly defined at the time of their birth but, today in Himachal Pradesh and many other states, it is diluting and those in the police or forest services are saddled on the chairs which earlier were under the bottoms of IAS men. The IAS lobby is, therefore, itchy and have started seeing red. Good, they have started seeing, at last. But who is to be blamed for it? The post of secretary (personnel) has since long been with IAS person here. I had the opportunity of asking a go-getter officer holding the personnel scepter that why was he attempting to liquidate the babudom. I got the reply, “What does an IAS officer do, for example, as the managing director of the HPTDC? If he has to see that the bread served to the customers was baked well, the bed-sheets spread on the beds were clean and the salt in dal was in right proportion, then anybody could do it. Let an Indian Forest Service officer handle it.” Was it a remark in the favour of or against the present incumbent or was it dontopedalogy - the science of opening your mouth and putting your foot in it? I do not know. There are five IFS officers, one IPS officer and one Himachal Police officer who are holding seven IAS cadre posts in this tiny state. Besides, there are four senior IFS officers and one IPS officer holding a non-cadre IAS posts. The hullabaloo has intensified because the IAS men apprehend that a senior police officer is going to grab the post of Principal Secretary (Home). I take a leaf out of the book of my Rana Sahib and suggest that the three all-India services be merged together and a new “India Mishmash Service” (IMS) be formed. A few IAS officers are posted as chief conservators of forests and additional director generals of police and a battery of IMS officers from the forest and the police are posted as special secretaries and secretaries or directors and managing directors. In making such postings, it should be kept in mind that cushy jobs are provided to them because life in the forest or policing in the district is a real tough one and so the run of youngsters towards Shimla and its administrative citadels is amply rewarded. We are gradually returning to the days of princely states. I bow to the foresightedness of our Rana Sahib for creating a mishmash service then.
Tailpiece
A forester, a police officer and an administrator were sleeping in a jungle. At night, they woke up shivering. The forester exclaimed, “Fresh air blowing from the trees!” The police officer questioned, “Who stole our tent?” The administrator suggested, “We should have brought our dogs to keep check on thieves”. And they went to sleep again.
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Palampur, September 13
Two local social organisations have taken a new initiative to empower youths by organising a youth empowerment camp at Sujanpur here recently. This is the first time that any social organisation has come up with the idea of holding such a programme in this region.
The villagers should not only come forward to take advantage of all the schemes and projects started by the government for their benefit and uplift, but should also inspire others to utilise these facilities, including financial aid, trainings, stipends and scholarships.
The prolonged monsoon has taken a heavy toll on the roads, pedestrian paths and trees in the state capital and surrounding areas.
I am a resident of the erstwhile Koti State. Koti encircled Shimla, which was then the summer capital of India, and the localities of Bharari and Sanjauli formed part of that state. The services of the state worked on the fancy and desire of our Rana Sahib. The transfer orders of that time read: “Moti Ram, Sadar of Thana Bharari is transferred as medical officer of Sanjauli dispensary; Gyanu, forest guard will henceforth be Sadar of Bharari Thana; medical officer Sanjauli will be the forest guard replacing Gyanu”.