Bathinda, October 16
The Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS), Faridkot, will take over the Red Cross De-Addiction Centre on the premises of the Civil Hospital, Bathinda, in December this year.

While the university has been directed to run the 50-bed tertiary care centre, which will come up at a cost of Rs 5 crore, it will take over the existing facility, thereby bailing it out of the financial problems and ensure its smooth functioning.

Principal Secretary, Health, Vini Mahajan, state Health and Medical Education Adviser Dr KK Talwar and BFUHS vice-chancellor Dr SS Gill visited the centre today.

Mahajan visited the de-addiction centre as well as the women and children hospital coming up on the premises of the Civil Hospital.

Talking to mediapersons during her visit to the facility, she said tertiary care de-addiction centres were coming up at five places in the state, including Faridkot and Bathinda, under the BFUHS, Jalandhar and Amritsar, under Government Medical College at Amritsar and at Patiala, under the Government Medical College.

Mahajan said the work on constructing warehouses for drug storage and distribution at three places in Punjab was on a war footing. “With these drug warehouses, we will regulate and rationalise the distribution of drugs to government health facilities. We have already signed an agreement with C-DAC, Noida, for getting software and logistics to run this project,” she said.

Talking on the issue of promoting institutional deliveries in government hospitals, Mahajan said September reflected that more deliveries had been conducted in government institutions than the private ones. “We are now working towards sustaining this momentum. Our Infant Mortality Rate has lowered by 0.2 per cent already,” she said.

Replying to a query on high attrition rate of government doctors, she said specialists themselves were shying away from working in the government sector. “Specialists are sought after in the private sector too and hence get enough opportunities. We are working on retaining them by relieving specialists from VIP and emergency duties,” she said, adding that a number of medical graduates had joined the government services and many more were keen to do so.

Earlier, during her visit to the de-addiction centre, the in charge, Dr Nidhi Gupta informed her about the facilities given to patients. 

Bathinda, October 16
Health and medical education adviser to the state government Dr KK Talwar today expressed his reservations over slippery tiles laid at the entrance and corridor of the women and children hospital which is under construction.

Dr Talwar, who visited the hospital today, said, “The tiles are slippery and are not advisable to be used in hospitals. Patients can slip on these. These could be replaced with the granite flooring, which is commonly used in hospitals.”

BFUHS vice-chancellor Dr SS Gill, Principal Secretary, Health, Vini Mahajan, state health adviser Dr KK Talwar in a conversation at the de-addiction centre at the Civil Hospital; and (right) Mahajan talks to patients at the maternity ward of the women and children hospital in Bathinda on Wednesday. Tribune photos: Pawan Sharma

Dr Talwar talked to officials of the Punjab Health System Corporation (PHSC), who told him that the tiles being laid were vitrified ones and were not as slippery as it seemed.

Later, Principal Secretary, Health, Vini Mahajan visited the maternity ward, where she interacted with new mothers and their attendants. She asked the maternity ward nurses to ensure that new mothers were encouraged to breastfeed their babies.

She interacted with a patient who had undergone a Cesarean surgery and asked her if her family had to buy any medicine from outside the hospital.

The woman and her family replied in negative saying they did not have to pay for any diagnostic test or medicine.

She also enquired about the quality of food being served to new mothers as a part of the diet plan as well as the intra uterine device (IUD) option for the women undergoing C-section.

The team also visited the intensive care units for new born babies in the women and children hospital.

Mahajan expressed satisfaction at the deliverance of health services to women and children at the Bathinda hospital.

She was accompanied by civil surgeon Dr Ajay Sahni, district health officer Dr RS Randhawa, women and children hospital SMO Dr BS Gill, civil hospital SMO Dr Satish Gupta and others. On Tuesday, the health department had remained busy with the visit of Health Minister Surjit Kumar Jiyani, who too had visited the women and children hospital and the surgical wards.

Bathinda, October 16
Employees hired under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan (SSA) and the Rashtriya Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan (RMSA) have announced that they would observe a pen-down strike beginning October 21. The employees are protesting against the decision of the state government to spend crores of rupees on the Kabaddi World Cup when it was yet to pay funds related to them.

The announcement was made by the SSA-RMSA Daftari Karamchari Union, Punjab, here today. While talking about the meeting between their deputation and state Finance Minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa, state president of the union Talwinder Singh and general secretary Ashish Kumar stated that the finance department was shying away from paying its share of grants for running the Central government schemes.

The union members said despite several meetings and frequent correspondence with the department, nothing concrete had been finalised. They stated that they were left with no choice but to sit on a strike. Talwinder said they would take out rallies in various parts of the state.

He said during their meeting with the Chief Minister, state Education Minister and senior officials of the Education Department, the Chief Minister had assured them that their pay scale would be hiked. Talwinder said he had promised to give a grant of Rs 16 crore for the SSA-RMSA employees.

He said while 65 per cent of this grant was being borne by the Central government, the state government was delaying the release of the remaining 35 per cent of funds. They questioned the state government that if it can spend crores of rupees on organising Kabaddi Cup, why was it not ready to heed to their demands.

Bathinda, October 16
The Punjab State Mid-Day Meal Society today refuted reports that it had taken a "serious note" of complaints from schools regarding "sub-standard” food being provided to them by the private firm engaged for the preparing the meals. Media reports claimed that the society had served a notice to the firm. However, the district manager of the society, Daljit Singh Joshi, said, “We have not sent any such notice to the firm. The reports are false.”

“The District Education Officer (Elementary Education), Amarjit Kaur Kotfatta, is on leave and I will discuss with her on Thursday whether we need to serve a notice to the firm or not. We will also discuss if there is any truth behind the allegations levelled by a few schools regarding the quality of food,” he said.

Ever since the private firm from West Bengal, Bishalakshmi Club, started preparing and delivering mid-day meal to as many as 48 primary and upper primary schools, the society has been receiving complaints. These range from delay in the delivery and detection of stones and worms in the food.

“The firm started functioning on October 1. I visited and inspected the place where the firm prepares food and was impressed to see the way they work. I was also told that in order to cut short the time and manual work, the firm has also ordered a roti-maker. I wonder if there is any authenticity in the complaints that reach us,” he said.

Rajinder Jain, the supervisor of the Bathinda Centre of the Bishalakshmi Club, also denied receiving any notice. “Till yesterday, we had not received any notice from the society and it was a holiday today,” he said.

The manager of the centre, Buta Singh, also seconded Jain’s version. “We have not received any such notice from the Punjab Mid-Day Meal Society. We are not saying that we are doing the best that we can but surely, complaints are exaggerated and is a handiwork of notorious elements. Employees, who were earlier engaged for cooking for the students, have some ulterior motives,” he said.

Bathinda, October 16
The Mall Road Association, an entity of owners of shops on the Mall Road area, today called upon the Municipal Corporation Bathinda (MCB) to remove the billboard which is obstructing the view of commuters on the Mall Road intersection.

Addressing mediapersons today, Mall Road Association president KK Garg, general secretary Navneet Bansal and treasurer Sandeep Garg said the advertisement had been put up in such a manner that it obstructed the view of traffic plying on the other side of road thereby posing a risk to commuters' lives.

The members threatened to hold a protest against the MCB and block the Mall Road if the billboard, installed at the cross section near KK Laboratory, was not removed soon.

They said the 15-feet-high and five-feet-wide billboard might be a source of "handsome" revenue for the MCB but it was coming at the cost of the security of residents.

They said they had met the Assistant Municipal Commissioner, Kamal Kant Goyal, a week ago in this context.

“Goyal was apprised of the problem but nothing has been done in this regard so far,” he said. 

Bathinda, October 16
The financial literacy and credit counselling centre of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), run by the lead bank of the district, State Bank of Patiala (SBoP), has got a lukewarm from the public.

Opened in May 2010, with the aim of educating the common man on financial matters free of cost and to save them from investing in illegal funds, the centre has not been able to evoke as much response as was anticipated.

The counsellor for the centre, Prem Nath Garg, said besides educating people in person, the centre also has the facility of providing free consultation on financial matters on phone, through e-mail or facsimile. People are also advised to borrow bank loans in sync with their salaries and expenditure. "Most of the time, people are misled by the banks offering easy installment and other perks for loans. We tell people about the possible hidden costs and the way they could circumvent it," Garg said.

The centre also lends a helping hand to those trapped in loan debt from money lenders or commission agents by way of suggesting the easiest possible way out.

Located near the SBoP Bank on the ground floor of the district administrative complex, the centre has so far held 55 camps and educated 3,977 people. Garg added that the figure could be much higher if people are made more aware of the existence of the centre.

"We are reaching out to the people by holding camps in villages and educational institutes," Garg said.

Bathinda, October 16
The district-level athletics meet, organised by the School Education Department, got underway today at the Multipurpose Sports Stadium. The meet is being organised under the supervision of the District Education Officer (Secondary) Harkanwaljeet Kaur. As many as ten zones are participating in the meet.

In the Under-19 category for girls in the hammer throw contest, Ramandeep Kaur of Mandi Kalan, Sarabjit Kaur of Mandi Kalan and Sukhjit Kaur of Bathinda bagged the first three positions. In the Under-17 category, Beant Kaur of Talwandi Sabo, Shlinder Kaur of Talwandi Sabo and Sukhmandip Kaur of Bathinda Zone 2 bagged the first three positions.

In the girls' Under-17 category for javelin throw, Manpreet Kaur of Goniana, Sukhvir Kaur of Goniana and Khushdeep Kaur of Mandi Kalan were adjudged first, second and third, respectively.

In the boys' Under-19 category of the sport, Nirmal Singh of Maur Mandi, Amandeep Singh of Talwandi Sabo and Bagh Singh of Bathinda Zone 1 bagged the first, second and third positions, respectively. In the under-17 category, Satpal Singh of Talwandi Sabo, Mohammad Aziz of Bathinda Zone 1 and Yousuf Khan of Goniana bagged the first three places.

In the girls' long jump event in the Under-19 category, Pradip Kaur of Mandi Phul, Gurpreet Kaur of Sangat and Jaspreet Kaur of Talwandi Sabo bagged the first, second and third positions. In the Under-17 category, the positions were bagged by Khushwinder Kaur of Mandi Phul, Sandeep Kaur of Mandi Phul and Jyoti Devi of Goniana. In the under-14 category, the places went to Loverprit Kaur of Bhagta, Kirandeep Kaur of Bathinda Zone 1 and Manpreet Kaur of Goniana Mandi, who won the first three places.

In the boys' under-17 category, while the first place was grabbed by Akashdeep of Bathinda Zone 1, Gagandeep Singh of Goniana and Maninder Singh of Mandi Kalan bagged the second and third positions.

In the Under 14 category, Sudhansho of Bathinda Zone 1, Jagtar Singh of Talwandi Sabo and Sukhjinder Singh of Talwandi Sabo won the first three places. 

Bathinda, October 16
After the students of Government Rajindra College lifted the overall trophy at the zonal youth festival of the Punjabi University Patiala, the kayaking and canoeing players of the college grabbed several medals at the 1st State Kayaking & Canoeing Championship and the inter-college championship organised by the university.

From the girls' team, while Mandeep Kaur grabbed a silver medal in the K4 500 and K4 200 events, Dilpreet Kaur and Mangveer Kaur won a bronze medal in the K2 500 event. Dilpreet Kaur and Manpreet Kaur won a bronze in the K2 200 event at the state level.

At the inter-college competitions, the team grabbed three gold medals in the K4 1000, 500 and 200 events. It also won three silver medals in the K2 1000, 500 and 200 events apart fom winning a bronze in the K1 500 event.

For the boys' team, Jaswinder Singh, Rajveer Singh, Avtar Singh, Ravinder Singh won a silver medal in the K4 500 event. In the K4 200 event, the team won a bronze medal. It also won bronze medals in K2 500 and K2 200 events at the state level.

At the inter-college championship, the team of Jaswinder Singh, Rajveer Singh, Avtar Singh, Ravinder Singh won a silver medal in the K4 500 event and a bronze medal in K4 200 event. The boys also grabbed bronze medals in the K2 1000, K2 500, K2 200 event, K1 1000 and K1 500 events.

Prof Jagjivan Kaur of the Department of Physical Education at the college stated that the achievements of the students meant a lot since they started learning the sport only after they took admission in the college.

"Learning the sport and playing it well enough to win medals at the inter-college and state levels is a commendable task," she said. The winners were also felicitated by the college authorities. 

Bathinda, October 16
The students of Baba Farid College of Engineering & Technology (BFCET), Bathinda, brought laurels to the college by wining various competitions held at the Chandigarh College of Engineering and Technology, at the techfest "Apratim".

Four students of the ECE department of BFCET, Gaurav Berwal, Deepak Kumar, Anwar and Parwinder Singh, bagged the first position in Roborace and the second position in Robowar at the fest. The robot presented by the students weighed 50 kilograms.

Chairman of Baba Farid Group of Institutions, Gurmeet Singh Dhaliwal congratulated the team members and stated that the BFGI has dedicated this year to 'Technical excellence and research". Praising the efforts of the students and the faculty, he attributed the success of the students to the dedicated and hardworking faculty and the practical exposure given to the students.

Manish Goyal, assistant director (academics), congratulated the students and assured that the Baba Farid College of Engineering & Technology will continue to excel in the field of technology even to the higher levels.

Bathinda, October 16
The 4th Punjab State Deaf & Dumb T-20 Cricket Championship Suncity Cup began here today at the Police Public School ground. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Ravcharan Singh Brar was the chief guest on the occasion. The guests of honour were Rajesh Khosla and Harpal Singh Mahil.

In the first match played today, Bathinda beat Amritsar. While the hosts scored 149 runs in 20 overs, Amritsar could make only 117 runs as all its batsmen were sent back to the pavilion in just 18 overs. Hemant Singh of Bathinda was named the Man of the Match.