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Suvidha Centre starts functioning partially
‘Poisoned’ by in-laws, pregnant woman loses child
23 patients shifted to renovated maternity ward of Civil Hospital
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Manjit Kaur, who works as a private ambulance driver, in Jalandhar. Tribune photo: Malkiat Singh
High drama outside Bhajji’s house
Disability, poverty hardly deter him from dreaming big
Gurpreet Deo, IG, NRI Affairs, Punjab Police, presents a prize to a student of Lyallpur Khalsa College in Jalandhar on Saturday. Photo: Sarabjit Singh Fake bank draft: Delhi Police arrests city businessman
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Suvidha Centre starts functioning partially
Jalandhar, March 9
Yesterday none of the hundreds of applicants could receive any papers even as these were ready. This had happened because the contractual staff on strike had not handed over charge to the staff deployed from other branches and had kept papers in their own custody. They have been protesting against the termination of services of manager Sandeep Sharma. In view of the inconvenience caused to the public the whole day yesterday, the charge was reportedly forcibly taken from them late last evening. While yesterday the applications were taken manually as the staff did not even disclose the passwords of the computers, most systems were in operation today. A notice by Assistant Commissioner pasted at the entrance of the centre read that the protesting employees should resume duty, otherwise they would face serious departmental action. They were even told that they would not be paid their dues during which they remained off duty causing much harassment to the public. Parneet Bhardwaj, ADC, said efforts were being made to ensure that all counters worked properly on Monday. "Those who will not join will have to face the music," he warned. |
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‘Poisoned’ by in-laws, pregnant woman loses child
Jalandhar, March 9 While she had first been admitted to the Civil Hospital on the same day (February 15), staying at her parents’ place after being discharged, Parminder had immense bleeding today, following which her foetus got partially aborted and she was brought to the hospital, where her baby was fully aborted. Both families are residents of Begowal in Kapurthala. Talking to The Tribune, Parminder’s uncle Gurcharan Singh said, “Parminder was married to Charan Singh eight years ago and there had been constant trouble at her in-laws’ home for the past few years and many times the intervention of the panchayat and police had also been sought. Her husband wanted a divorce and also had been pestering her for dowry.” “On February 15, Parminder’s husband Charan Singh and mother-in-law Surinder Kaur held her arms and forcibly fed her a poisonous substance which caused her health to deteriorate. We immediately brought her to the hospital. She was again brought to the Civil Hospital on March 5 and the doctor told us that she was very weak, had serious infection and she could have bleeding at any time,” Gurcharan alleged. "Today after her lunch, she started having bleeding and we brought her to the hospital in a car,” he added. When asked why she still went back to her in-laws despite problems, Gurcharan said, “The in-laws' family had been asking for divorce but she has been married to the man for the past so many years and has two children. How could she divorce him?” Parminder has a son (7) and a daughter (5) from the marriage. Staff at the hospital said Paminder’s condition was so bad that they feared touching her might cause bleeding. She suffered from a very bad infection and was brought in a very sensitive state in which the baby was partially out of her body. “It is due to her in-laws that she has suffered this condition. We had lodged an FIR in this regard at the Begowal police station against her husband and mother-in-law about 10 days after she was fed the poisonous substance. But so far no arrests have been made. We have heard that the boy has fled abroad and her mother-in-law is also absconding,” Gurcharan Singh alleged. Hargurdev Singh, SHO of the Begowal police station, confirmed that an FIR against Sukhwinder Kaur and Charan Singh had been lodged in the police station. Talking about the state of the investigations, the SHO said, “Both Charan Singh and his mother are absconding. We have carried out raids at the Charan Singh’s and his relative’s houses. While Charan Singh is known to have fled abroad, his mother is untraceable. So far we do not know about their whereabouts, but further investigations in the case are on.”
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23 patients shifted to renovated maternity ward of Civil Hospital
Jalandhar, March 9 The damp corridors of the old ward were finally seen to be empty as 23 patients were shifted to the renovated maternity ward this morning. The entire maternity ward has three main parts - one housing some small wards, OT and offices, which started functioning last year, second housing two big wards and the third the renovated one, which started functioning today. As many as 70 patients were seen admitted to the three parts in total today. Renovated ward
While patients, shifted to the new ward, heaved a sigh of relief, for the ones still in the old ward, the situation remains unchanged. Patients in the new ward, some of whom were lying in the corridor till yesterday, said fed up with mosquitoes in the corridors, they have received great respite after being shifted to the new ward. Great numbers, little space
However, the flip side to the story is that given the big number of patients being admitted to the Civil Hospital, the renovation of the new ward provides just a tiny bit of help as it leaves a lot more to be done. Of the total 70 patients, 23 were admitted to the renovated ward, 16 to the 18-bedded old ward and the rest all had to be adjusted in the main building, where on many beds two patients were adjusted on one bed. At the old ward, similar insanitary conditions still prevailed and the rear area of the ward is still stacked with refuse and dirty linens. Patients at the ward said they had been told they would shortly be shifted to the new ward. Staff shortage
Two staff nurses and a few trainee nurses tended to the needs of 70 patients. Despite the best of the staff's efforts and outcries at various times, staff shortage remains one of the greatest problems at the Civil Hospital. In cases of mothers brought to the hospital in critical conditions, expert care is needed since even a little carelessness might result in fatalities. But the staff has to divide its attention across the wards. In instances where the
hospital might get five to six (or more) critical patients at a time (which isn't rare), the staff is left to deal with a very
trying situation. On an average, one safai sewak and two staff nurses are present at the hospital at a time, which isn't enough. What's needed
It is a known fact that the Civil Hospital is clearly the only place where unmanageable patients from across the district are referred to due to the lack of staff and sources at the PHCs and CHCs as well. Insiders say the maternity ward of the Civil Hospital needs to be equipped with over 150 beds and specialised wings for ante-natal and post-natal care, given the number of patients the hospital gets. Lack of adequate number of specialised staff trained to deal with exigencies is also a prime need which has been left unheeded for years. Asking two staff nurses and one doctor to handle 70 to 100 patients is indeed asking for too much. Official speak
Speaking on the report submitted to the DC, Medical Superintendent Dr Renu said, "We had submitted the report regarding the maternity ward to the DC the very next day she asked for it. The renovation is on full swing and some of the patients have been moved to the newly renovated ward. The rest of the work is on." However, she didn't say when it will be completed. Reacting to a query about insanitary conditions prevailing at the old maternity ward, the MS said, "The old building of the Civil Hospital has not provided for any
enclosures where dirty linens can be stacked. So we have to keep them at the old ward. But we are hoping that the problem will be dealt with once the renovation work is complete." |
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This woman chose to storm male bastion
Jalandhar, March 9 Driving with accuracy under immense pressure and at a high speed, Manjit says that it is a very satisfying experience when she gets to know that she managed to save precious lives. Manjit was the one who recently drove down Jasraj Bhatti, son of comedian Jaspal Bhatti, and actress Sureeli to Ludhiana, after their accident near Shahkot. "Unfortunately, I was also the one to take Jaspal Bhatti ji's body to Chandigarh. His wife recently invited me to the inauguration function of a studio and honoured me," she said. She elaborates the flip side of pursuing this career, "But being a woman, I face a lot of interrogation from the patients' attendants. They would keep on asking me if they would be safe in my ambulance. Sometimes, it takes me a lot of time to convince the families to hire my vehicle. I have to often offer lower charges from my male counterparts to get customers. While others charge Rs 30 per km, I take only Rs 20 per km so that I get more customers. A good percentage of the income also goes off as commission and parking charges to be paid at several places." Manjit narrates the ordeals which led her to entering this profession, "I was just 15 when my ailing father married me off. I lost both my parents and in-laws in quick succession. My husband was a farmer, but an alcoholic. He would rarely give any amount to run the family. He even sold off whatever agricultural land we had near Sultanpur Lodhi. There were such difficult times that I did not even have milk or anything else in the house to feed my son." She turns a bit emotional as she goes on, "I was just Class V pass and unqualified for any job. Under such circumstances, I only got a job of a sweeper at Central Hospital in Jalandhar. It was during this time that a cousin, who worked as an ambulance driver at Doaba Hospital, trained me in driving. I used my one-hour lunch time for this purpose. It was during this time that my husband suffered a paralytic attack and got disabled." "We sold off our house in Sultanpur to buy a small dwelling in the city. No one from my parents' side or my in-laws helped me in this time of need. It was that cousin again who gave me his Omni ambulance and himself became a school bus driver. I drove that ambulance for four years and have now purchased a new Venture on instalments. My son is studying in Class X in a government school and I am the sole breadwinner in the family. With an income ranging between Rs 10,000 and Rs 15,000, it is difficult to repay loan and meet the needs of the family. But life has to go on," she signs off. |
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High drama outside Bhajji’s house
Jalandhar, March 9 Mediapersons rushed to Harbhajan’s residence at Garha near the Punjab Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) and congratulated him. Some of the mediapersons, who managed to get inside his residence, also had brief interactions with him. The cricketer was apparently annoyed over the news and even chided his guards for allowing the mediapersons to enter his premises. The journalists remained on their toes outside his residence for over two hours to clear the mystery whether he had joined or was likely to join the Punjab police in Barnala. The cricketer, however, clarified in the evening that the rumor spread following his morphed photograph was posted at a social networking site. The picture is believed to have been taken from a video clip in which he had earlier appeared. |
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Disability, poverty hardly deter him from dreaming big
Jalandhar, March 9 He suffers from muscular dystrophy and has his one leg and arm badly affected. Determined to be a computer science engineer, he with his sheer grit, daily commutes a distance of nearly 7 km to to attend his classes at the Mehr Chand Technical Institute from his home near Wadala Chowk. He commutes on a rickshaw that drops him at the college entrance, Sarabjit says. At his college, his friends help him sit in his wheelchair. He cannot even pull the wheelchair since his both hands are weak. “I have some half a dozen friends who take good care of me at college,” the teenager says happily. “My father works as a daily wage labourer at construction sites. I see him work hard to support the family. I have an elder brother who is in Class XII and a sister who has dropped out of her studies,” he says. He can use the keyboard with his right hand only. Asked as to who guided him to choose computer, he says, “After I scored 65 per cent marks in Class X, a teacher of mine at Government Senior Secondary School, Wadala, suggested me to go in for JET.” He says he had had to pay Rs 500 in the first semester and Rs 1,800 in the second as he belongs to Scheduled Caste (SC) category which was of a great help for him. He gives credit to Vice-Principal SPS Khurana, who he says, often helped him bear some routine expenses at the college. “I intend to even pursue BTech degree after the course and then take up a job.”
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274 students honoured at Lyallpur Khalsa College
Jalandhar, March 9 Jasdeep Kaur, a student of MSc (physics)-IV Sem was awarded the roll of honour because of her remarkable performance in the university examination. For his splendid achievements in sports, most notably a gold medal in the National Softball Championship, Vinay Kumar Saini of B Com-III was also awarded the roll of honour. Principal Dr GS Samra welcomed the guests and presented the annual report of the college. He mentioned the role played by Balbir Singh, former president, College Governing Council, in developing research-oriented infrastructure of the college and informed the gathering that five teachers of the institution earned doctorate degree this year, two teachers were awarded with major research project, one with minor research project in addition to four ongoing minor and one major research projects. |
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