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Govt College’s sporting talent turfed out
Shortage of drugs ails Jan Aushadhi store
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caught in a crawl 2
One booked for sneaking poppy husk into jail
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Govt College’s sporting talent turfed out
Bathinda, January 7 The decision to turn the only sports ground on the college premises into a hockey stadium after laying an astro turf (synthetic field grass) in the year 2011 was hailed as a big step towards encouraging hockey but it left the sporting talent inside the college disappointed. In 2011, the college had to host its athletic meet at a ground near Sabzi Mandi in the city. Prof Surjeet Singh of physical education department in the college said the ground was not spacious enough to have even a 200-m track. “During the 2012 athletic meet, the events were held on a 150 metre track. The ground is also in a bad condition. It was a tedious task to conduct the athletic meet there,” he told TNS. The college has as many as 450 students pursuing a course in physical education. Besides, there are many students from other departments who take part in various sporting activities. Speaking to Bathinda Tribune, Deputy Commissioner Kamal Kishore Yadav said, “When the stadium was built, we had asked the college authorities to develop a new ground covering the area earmarked for parking and stairs. If the college needs any grant to take the development work forward, its authorities can send us a request which we will process as soon as we can.” Principal of the college Vijay Goyal said the project of developing a new ground for the students had been lying in limbo since there was confusion over who was responsible for developing it. “Although we were told by the administration that the parking area and the area covered by the stairs can be used to develop a new ground, it is yet to demarcate the area for the purpose. Developing a ground for students of our college is the responsibility of the government. At present, students practise at the ground near Sabzi Mandi but that is not enough. We have no option but to host our athletic meets there,” Goyal said. "We had complained to the administration that outsiders manage to enter the college premises from the side of the hockey stadium. We had requested it to demarcate the college area but even that has not been done yet," he regretted. The astro turf was laid at the cost of more than Rs 12 crore. Sprinklers were installed around the astro turf to keep it wet regularly so as to ensure that the players do not slip. Flood lights were also installed around the stadium. Meanwhile, the college is preparing to host this year's athletic meet also at the ground near the Sabzi Mandi.
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Shortage of drugs ails Jan Aushadhi store
Bathinda, January 7 Apart from the fact that there is a negligible supply of generic drugs to the store resulting in a severe shortage of medicines, government doctors extend a step-motherly treatment to generic drugs and prescribe branded drugs. The Jan Aushadhi scheme was launched by the Central Government in 2008 under which the quality generic drugs which were not branded were to be made available to the patients through these stores. The doctors working at the government hospitals had also been asked to prescribe generic drugs to the patients. The problem of short supply of drugs from the central pharma public sector undertakings (CPSUs) to the Jan Aushadhi stores is so acute that the store doesn’t even have a stock of some of the basic antibiotics. “We have been out of stock for months now. The supplier, GD Agencies, Zirakpur, does not supply drugs on time. There are important antibiotics which have not been supplied to us in the last seven months,” Bhoj Raj, nodal officer, Jan Aushadhi Drug Store, Bathinda told Tribune News Service. MP Singh, nodal officer, Jan Aushadhi, Punjab, agreed that he was well aware of the poor condition of the Jan Aushadhi store and suggested that the stores purchase the stock from private suppliers. Talking about the short supply of drugs to these stores, he said, "I am aware that the supply of generic medicines is erratic. I would suggest Jan Aushadhi stores purchase generic medicines from private suppliers, in case the order is not delivered on time." Bhoj Raj pointed out that the store is already purchasing 28 generic drugs from the local market, but can not purchase all drugs in the absence of a written permission. A pharmacist working at the Jan Aushadhi store highlighted another area of concern. "Doctors do not prescribe generic drugs as they are busy promoting expensive branded drugs. We have to return the stock at times as there is no awareness among patients. The sales have gone down drastically in the last few months." Senior Medical Officer (SMO) Satish Goyal said no action has been taken against any doctor so far for not prescribing generic drugs. "As a process of monitoring, we ask doctors to send their prescriptions to our office. No letter has been issued to doctors asking them to prescribe branded drugs to the patients,” said the SMO. Fact file
Official Speak I am aware that the supply of generic medicines is erratic. I would suggest that Jan Aushadhi stores purchase generic medicines from private suppliers, in case the order is not delivered on
time.
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The number of lives lost in mishaps on the Bathinda-Goniana road is high. In the second part of the series, Bathinda Tribune reporter
Gurdeep Singh Mann and photographer Bhupinder Dhillon travel on this stretch at normal and peak hours to know the problems faced by the commuters
High speed, jumping lights common here Travelling on Goniana road fails to be a smooth ride, especially for the small vehicles which are often hit by SUVs travelling at a high speed on the road. The vehicles travelling at a high speed, including buses, usually overtake the smaller vehicles and the two-wheelers are often at the receiving end. Major accidents involving four-wheelers have been reported on the road due to the rashly driven heavy vehicles. The bicycles are more prone to the accidents which are hit, most of the time at night, by vehicles travelling on high beam and at great speed. The use of low beam is not a norm on this road as hardly any initiative has been taken by the traffic police or the district administration to issue challans (tickets) to those using the high beam. The speed of vehicles is not lowered even at night and those on two-wheelers, bicyclists and pedestrians are always at the risk of being hit by the bigger vehicles.
President of Sahara Jan Sewa, an NGO, Vijay Goyal said that recently, a man who fell on the road, was repeatedly run over by many vehicles as nobody bothered to stop their vehicles. In a similar accident nine persons have lost their lives last year. Three retired teachers who were on their way to Sirsa too died in a head-on collision a few months ago. The most deadly blind turns on this road are near Bhokra village, near Delhi Public School, near Adarsh Nagar, Gillpatti, Bhai Ghanaiya Chowk, Tinkoni and Ganesha Basti
Chowk.
The Tribune team, while moving on the road, failed to see any vehicle stopping at the traffic lights near the NFL Chowk. No policeman or traffic cop was deployed at the traffic lights during the morning or evening hours. A similar situation prevailed at Bhai Ghanaiya Chowk where the traffic lights were not working. Due to the lack of a dividing road, many accidents have taken place due to overtaking and taking of wrong turns by the vehicles on this road. "Since the road is very smooth, people drive at a speed more than 100 kilometers per hour even during the peak hours at night or in the evening," said Sahara worker Anil Kumar, who has helped in shifting the accident victims on the road many times. Problems you have to grapple with
Kind of traffic: The vehicles on this stretch include agricultural vehicles, tractor-trailers, overloaded trucks and buses travelling at high speed. The liquor vends and nearby eating joints also pose serious threat as many people coming out of the liquor vends and adjoining eating joints in a drunken state, were hit by high speed vehicles on the road. Kind of vehicles: Vehicles include trucks, cars, two-wheelers, buses and trucks. Presence of policemen managing traffic
Accident points: Accidents are reported on the entire stretch from Goniana up to Hanuman Chowk and fatal accidents were reported in the past near Delhi Public School, the blind turn at
Bhokra, near lake number 3, Bhai Ghanaiya Chowk and Tinkoni Chowk. The iron railing installed on the GT Road near Ganesha Basti is missing as thieves and drug addicts have uprooted it to sell its iron. Choke points
Bhokra turn, Gillpatti bus stand, lake number three, Bhai Ghanaiya Chowk, Rose Garden, Tinkoni, Ganesha Basti Chowk and Hanuman Chowk are the main choke points. Blind turn near Bhokra creates confusion
Commuters coming from Goniana have to face a blind turn near Bhokra village and many vehicles collide with the boundary walls of houses or a nearby school if the fog is dense. There is no signboard installed to caution the commuters about the blind turn. A similar situation prevails near Bhai Ghanaiya Chowk where commuters coming from the Muktsar side usually collide with the vehicles coming from the Bathinda side due to extra width of road and the traffic lights which do not function properly. Darkness on the Goniana road too leads to commotion and many accidents have been reported in the past due to dark patches. Sahara volunteers said many times, they have to search for the road accident victims with much pain due to the non-functional streetlights on the road. No survey conducted so far despite loss of lives So far, no specific survey has been conducted either by the district administration or the police despite the loss of numerous lives in road accidents. Though traffic lights have been installed near NFL Chowk and Bhai Ghanaiya Chowk, hardly anyone stops at these traffic lights and due to absence of policemen at these places, motorists continue to flout traffic signals. Speed-breaker constructed at Ganesha Basti effective
The recently constructed speed breakers near Ganesha Basti Chowk have proved effective in reducing the speed of the vehicles, but still, many accidents are reported on the stretch, creating the need for taking more such steps. COMMUTERS speak high speed proves fatal The reason behind too many accidents on Goniana road is the high speed of vehicles as the road is smooth and vehicles are driven at a high speed of over 100
kmph. When these vehicles try to overtake, it often results in a head-on collision or fatal accidents. The use of high beam has lead to many accidents on the road as people do not switch to low beam and the drivers of small vehicles, especially two-wheelers, lose balance. Also, people do not stop at the traffic lights and vehicles collide with each other while trying to jump the red light. Official speak
Time to teach youngsters We are trying our best to streamline the traffic using various means, including awareness drives launched by the traffic police. This is high time to teach the youngsters to drive cautiously. People should learn to restrain themselves while driving. |
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One booked for sneaking poppy husk into jail
Bathinda, january 7 During the checking of a packet of chips Gurdev was carrying, it was found that the eatables were laced with poppy husk. A case under Sections 15, 61, 85 of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and 42 of Provision Act has been registered against Gurdev at Civil Lines police station. — TNS
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