B A T H I N D A    E D I T I O N

Man treated at Gidderbaha SMO’s ‘private’ clinic dies
Muktsar, September 19
The functioning of the district health authorities has come under a scanner after a man, who was treated by the Senior Medical Officer (SMO), Civil Hospital, Gidderbaha, at his private clinic died.

95% applications disposed of: RTS panel chief
Barnala, September 19
SC Aggarwal, Chief Commissioner, Right to Service Commission, Punjab, on Thursday said about 95 per cent applications out of the 1.25 crore received by various departments during the past two years in the state had been disposed of.

5-day Baba Farid fair begins
Faridkot, September 19
The five-day annual Baba Farid Mela started with a heritage march here today. Additional Deputy Commissioner, Faridkot, Mohan Lal and other senior functionaries flagged off the heritage march.

Man treated at Gidderbaha SMO’s ‘private’ clinic dies
Archit Watts
Tribune News Service

Muktsar, September 19
The functioning of the district health authorities has come under a scanner after a man, who was treated by the Senior Medical Officer (SMO), Civil Hospital, Gidderbaha, at his private clinic died.

The death sparked a protest outside the residence of Hari Narain Singh, the SMO, where he had reportedly converted three rooms into clinic.

Dr Gulshan Rai, Civil Surgeon, Muktsar, said, “We had got the information that a man complaining of chest pain had gone to Dr HN Singh's house in the morning and the doctor had conducted an ECG test and had given him some medicine. But the patient’s condition did not improve and he died after a short period.”

He added, “The private clinic has been sealed in the presence of the officials of the district administration, but the doctor was not present there.”

Asked whether the SMO’s wife was a medico, the Civil Surgeon replied, “She is not a medico, so we are assuming that the SMO was himself running the private clinic. This information has been conveyed to the Director, Health Department, for further action.”

Sources said the doctor had given some tablet to 33-year-old Jagsir Singh of Rupnagar locality. “However, the patient’s health deteriorated and the family took him to another hospital from where he was referred to some other hospital in Bathinda. The patient was declared brought dead there,” said sources.

Irate over this, the bereaved family, along with a number of persons, staged a dharna outside the SMO’s clinic and blocked the road. Meanwhile, the body was sent for a post-mortem and the police has started investigation. Dr Hari Narain Singh refused to make any comment in this regard.

95% applications disposed of: RTS panel chief
Tribune News Service

Barnala, September 19
SC Aggarwal, Chief Commissioner, Right to Service Commission, Punjab, on Thursday said about 95 per cent applications out of the 1.25 crore received by various departments during the past two years in the state had been disposed of.

He said in August, as many as 21,636 applications were received by various offices in Barnala district, of which only nine applications were yet to be disposed of.

Aggarwal stated this while speaking on the Right to Service Act at the Red Cross Bhawan today.

Deputy Commissioner Dr Indu Malhotra, SSP Upinderjit Singh Ghuman, Additional Deputy Commissioner Jora Singh Thind, Barnala SDM Amandeep Bansal, Tapa SDM Jaspal Singh and District Transport officer (DTO) Sukhwinder Kumar were also present on the occasion.

Aggarwal said about two years ago, when the RTS Act was promulgated, 69 notified services were covered under it but now the number of the notified services has increased to 149.

Aggarwal said services under the RTS Act were time-bound. If an officer did not dispose of an application in a stipulated period then that officer would be answerable for the same, he added.

Aggarwal said the e-governance project was going to start soon after which applicants would be able to send their applications through e-mail besides knowing their status.

5-day Baba Farid fair begins
Tribune News Service

Faridkot, September 19
The five-day annual Baba Farid Mela started with a heritage march here today. Additional Deputy Commissioner, Faridkot, Mohan Lal and other senior functionaries flagged off the heritage march.

The march started from Qila Mubarak and culminated at Darbar Ganj. It was a mirror of the rich heritage of Faridkot estate, which was once visited by Sufi saint, Sheikh Farid in whose memory the fair is organised.

Sheikh Farid is recognised as the first major poet of the Punjabi language and is considered one of the pivotal saints of Punjab.

Every year, people from all walks of life converge in Faridkot during the fair and pay obeisance to the Sufi saint.

Wearing traditional Punjabi dresses, children of various schools and elders attended the fair. Youths performed ‘bhangra’ and ‘giddha’, folk dances of the state, on the occasion.

The ADC also inaugurated an exhibition showcasing the heritage at Darbar Ganj. Different traditional agricultural equipment, old coins, utensils, Charkhas, fans (pakhian) and gramophones were displayed at the exhibition.

Mohan Lal said during the ‘mela’, a state-level painting workshop and a three-day National Punjabi Drama Festival would be held at Darbar Ganj complex. He said a seminar on the life and teachings of Sheikh Farid and a national folk dance festival would be held. These would be followed by Punjab's rural and traditional games.

The mela would conclude on September 23 with a nagar kirtan (religious procession).