Shimla, November 21
The government has written to the Medical Council of India (MCI) to cancel the registration of 45 MBBS and MD doctors who left government job without paying bond money during the last two years.

The government is also considering enhancing the bond of Rs 5 lakh for MBBS students to Rs 10 lakh so that a majority of fresh medical students can be forced to serve in the government sector.

The bond money that a postgraduate doctor has to pay if he declines to serve in the government sector is enhanced from Rs 15 lakh to 25 lakh last year. Similarly, the amount for doctors leaving service after doing super-speciality course, too, has been hiked from Rs 25 to 40 lakh.

"Since none of the 45 doctors, who quit government service, paid the requisite bond money, we have approached the State Chapter of the Medical Council of India to cancel their registration," revealed Ali Raza Rizvi, Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare.

He said the department would initiate the legal procedure of recovering the money from them but the MCI was being approached for action against them.

The Health Department has charge-sheeted six doctors who have not reported on duty for quite some time. Faced with acute shortage of doctors, especially specialists, the state is struggling to provide quality health services in the remote and rural part of the state, where doctors are not too keen to serve. It is not only the lure of hefty pay packages, but also the better work environment which is leading to exodus of doctors to corporate hospitals outside the state.

As a result, the state government if finding it difficult to fill the vacancies. It is owing to the shortage of doctors that the government has not posted a sufficient number of doctors at the First Referral Units, identified under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM). Despite holding walk-in interviews and enhancing the emoluments and giving additional incentives to doctors to serve in rural areas, there are still many vacancies.

In poor health A total of 45 doctors quit government service without paying bond money Six other doctors charge-sheeted for not joining the place of posting Health Department writes to the MCI, seeking cancellation of registration of the doctors The department will enhance bond money for MBBS from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh

Dharamsala, November 21
The race for the Congress ticket from the Kangra Lok Sabha constituency has begun. Youth Congress leaders from Kangra, including newly elected vice-president of Himachal Youth Congress Shekar Sethi, general secretaries Goldi Chaudhary and Dimple Malhotra and Kangra Lok Sabha constituency president Neetu Chaudhary, demanded that the ticket for the Lok Sabha poll should be given to Raghubir Singh Bali, former vice-president of the Youth Congress.

The leaders made this demand while addressing a press conference in Dharamsala today. The newly elected leaders of the Youth Congress said Rahul Gandhi had been giving preference to the youth in Assembly and parliamentary polls. In Himachal also, Raghubir, who is a youth leader, should be given the party ticket from Kangra.

Raghubir, who was also present in the press conference, said he was not seeking any party ticket. Youth leaders were just reflecting their sentiments. He was happy at working in whatever position was given to him by Rahul Gandhi, he said.

He, however, added that it was his wish that youth leader should be given the party ticket from Himachal during the parliamentary elections. It could be Himachal Youth Congress president, Vikramaditya also, he said. With this, Raghubir has put forward his and Virkramaditya's names among those who are seeking a ticket.Though Raghuvir has expressed wish that the youth should be given representation during the parliamentary poll, hardly any youth leader was given party ticket during the last Assembly polls in Himachal.

In the press conference, Neetu alleged that a minister from Kangra district had opposed her candidature. "My candidature was opposed just on the caste basis as the minister wanted a person from his community to win the elections," she alleged.

Sources here said Chander Kumar, former Congress MP, was the front runner for the Congress ticket from Kangra. He also has the support of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh.

Besides Chander Kumar, former minister and senior Congress leader Vijay Singh Mankotia, president of the state pollution control board Kuldeep Singh Pathania are among the aspirants.

Shimla, November 21
The meeting of the Shimla Municipal Corporation (MC) called to take up the issue of the implementation of the unit area method of house tax in the capital was postponed to November 27 as the MC consultant, PRUDA, which is implementing the property tax system in the city did not turn up for the meeting.

The MC is a divided house as CPM councillors have been opposing the unit area method proposed by PRUDA. However, the House has passed the unit area method proposed by PRUDA and the Vidhan Sabha has also given its nod to it.

Mayor Sanjay Chauhan said the meeting was postponed as the consultant did not turn up for it and they were yet to hand over the findings to the House for discussion and implementation. “The CPM councillors have opposed the unit area method as it would shift the burden from the rich to poor," said CPM leader Chauhan.

BJP and Congress councillors pleaded that they would not allow the unit area method as it would not be good for their wards. "The consultant is yet to hand over the findings and it should not be taken for granted that the method would be implemented as it is," they asserted.

As per the initial data prepared by PRUDA, a consultancy agency of the All-India Institute of Self Local Government, there are about 55,000 households in five zones in the city.

PRUDA has conducted the GIS-based mapping of households from 2007-08 to propose the property tax reforms based on the unit area method. Municipal Commissioner Amarjeet Singh said the modalities of the method would be decided by the House.

Shimla, November 21
With an eye on the coming Lok Sabha poll, the state Congress has decided to hand over the responsibilities of traditionally weak Assembly segments to ministers for strengthening the party base.

Pradesh Congress Committee president Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said the constituencies had been assigned to ministers in consultation with the AICC and Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh. The focus was on constituencies where the party had been losing elections continuously in the last 15 to 20 years.

The ministers would hold meetings in these constituencies to ascertain the reasons for the poor electoral performance of the party and suggest measures to strengthen the party organisation.

Party spokesperson Naresh Chauhan said the exercise was being carried out keeping in view the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. "We have identified 10 constituencies in the state where we have lost elections consistently over the last two decades and to improve the situation, Cabinet ministers had been asked to conduct monthly meetings in these constituencies to solve the problems of party workers and general public," said Chauhan.

The ministers would hold monthly meetings in co-ordination with block presidents and block observers of the areas concerned to further strengthen the party organisation. Each minister has been entrusted work for one segment.

Irrigation and Public Health Minister Vidya Stokes had been assigned work for Kutlehar in Una, Health Minister Kaul Singh Thakur, Bhoranj (Hamirpur), Transport Minister GS Bali Una, Power Minister Sujan Singh Pathania Seraj (Mandi), Forest Minister TS Bharmauri Jhanduta (Bilaspur), Industries Minister Mukesh Agnihotri Hamirpur, Urban Development Minister Sudhir Sharma Sujanpur (Hamirpur), Excise Minister Prakash Chaudhary Jogindernagar (Mandi), Social Justice Minister DR Shandil Paonta Sahib (Sirmaur) and Rural Development Minister Anil Sharma Dharampur (Mandi).

Palampur, November 21
Area under tea is squeezing year after year following a large-scale sale of tea gardens in the Kangra valley in the last few years.

Following labour shortage, non-availability of subsidy on fertiliser and lack of assistance from the government, a large number of tea growers in the valley have abandoned their tea gardens resulting in sharp decline in its production.

This year there is a sharp fall in the production of green tea leaves as compared to the previous year. In most of tea gardens in the Valley, the production of green tea leaves was recorded at 50 per cent as compared to the previous year.

Official sources said the production of green leaves had come down from 30 to 50 per cent in the valley, adding that small growers were the worst hit where the fall in the production of green leaves had been recorded up to 60 per cent.

The long-spell of winter and monsoon this year had further damaged tea bushes in many gardens. In April 2012, the total production of green leaves was 8,00,000 kg whereas this year it has come down to 7,00,000 kg. The production of made tea in April 2012 was 26,000 kg, which has come down to 19,000 kg this year resulting in a huge loss to the tea industry.

The Palampur Cooperative Tea Factory has been adversely affected because of the poor inflow of green leaves. Its production has come down by 30 per cent this year.

Though Union Commerce Minister Anand Sharma during his visit to Palampur last year had announced a special package for the revival of abandoned tea gardens in Kangra valley, no headway was made till date. Even survey to identify the abandoned tea garden is yet to be taken up. 

Manali, November 21
Manali may get a new tourist destination soon as the administration, Tourism Department and local stakeholders are chalking out a plan to open the famous Hamta Pass for tourists.

A team of officials today surveyed the road to Hamta and checked its compatibility - whether it is suitable and safe for tourists or not.

The team, consisted of Manali SDM Vinay Dhiman, Tourism and Civil Aviation Deputy Director Ashwani Kumar, DSP, Manali, Shamsher Singh, officials from the Forest Department, Allain Duhangan Hydropower Ltd (ADHPL), Manali Hoteliers’ Association, Homestay Association, Taxi Union and Himachal Travel Agents Association, visited the Hamta Pass and checked various aspects. The team checked whether the Prini-Hamta road, having hairpin bends and large slopes at some points, was feasible for a safe journey or not. The team found that the road was able to bear the traffic load.

Dhiman said they were looking forward to promoting the Hamta region as eco-friendly and absolutely a different type of tourist destination of the state. The conservation of natural resources would be given a priority. He said the number of vehicles would also be restricted to control traffic congestion in the area. A limited number of tourists would ensure the preservation of the fragile environment, he said.

It may be recalled that the Prini-Hamta road comes under the jurisdiction of ADHPL, which has built the 192-MW hydroelectric project here. Dhiman said the higher authority of the project would be requested to cooperate with them in the promotion of eco-friendly tourism in the area.

He also added that a sub-committee would be formed to keep track of the development progress of Hamta as a new tourist destination. “The committee will prepare its report on Hamta and send it to ADHPL for final approval,” he said.

Hamta had a vast potential to attract tourists with its exotic and virgin locations, religious sites, skiing, trekking and mountaineering. If everything went right, the Chief Minister would inaugurate this new tourist destination of Himachal Pradesh during Winter Carnival-2014 in January, Dhiman said.

Chamba, November 21
The condition of Chamba district is better than other backward districts in the country as far as the implementation of Centrally-sponsored schemes and programmes is concerned. However, there is still a need to make efforts to improve the present situation.

This was the crux of keynote address delivered by SC Sinha, member, National Human Right Commission (NHRC), at a workshop organised jointly by the NHRC and the district administration at the local Bachat Bhawan yesterday.

Sinha said a team of the NHRC, along with office-bearers of non-governmental organisations, members of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs), after carrying out a comprehensive survey and reviewing the reports of various government departments with regard to development schemes had observed that problems being faced by various departments in providing the benefit of government schemes would be put forward to the state government.

Taking into account the geographical situation of the district, suggestions would be sent to open more school hostels. He was also of the view that there was a need to strengthen the healthcare services in the tribal areas of Bharmour and Pangi.

He emphasised on the need to open a school for the differently-abled children besides opening more schools in the district. 

Mandi, November 21
It looks like the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) Medical College at Ner Chowk will take some more time to start while many clearances from the ESIC central authority and the letter of intent from the Medical Council of India (MCI) are still awaited. The project is already running two years behind its schedule.

The ESIC project that will have 500-bedded super-specialty hospital besides a medical college and was to be completed within two years in 2011. The construction of the college building is at the final stage and managers of the National Building Construction Corporation (NBCC) have approached the ESIC for providing Rs 30 crore for furniture and Rs 30 crore for laying sewerage.

The medical college authorities have also applied for the letter of intent to start the college. The project has been facing the financial crunch. Earlier, Pratibha Singh, MP, Mandi, had met Union Labour Minister Ses Ram Ola and urged him to provide funds for the Rs 1,000 crore ESIC project.

People of the state are eagerly awaiting it. The medical college will enrol 100 students for MBBS, 40 from the state, 40 from the open pool and 20 seats have been reserved for ESIC employees, who come under the Ministry of Labour and Employment.

AB Singh, general manager, NBCC, said, “We have sought the bill of quantity from the ESIC for sewerage and furniture and have set a target to complete the college building by December 2013. The hospital building will be completed by July 2014.”

Dr DS Dhiman, Dean of the medical college said, “We have set December 2014 as deadline for the completion of the project and a MCI team will be visit here soon.”

Bilaspur, November 21
Deputy Commissioner Ajay Sharma exhorted farmers to take the full advantage of advanced facilities and schemes introduced for the improvement of farming in the district. Sharma said this while addressing farmers at Kandraur village in Bilaspur sadar development block and Baadi Chowk village in Ghumarwin Development Block in the district yesterday.

The district Agriculture Department had arranged a demonstration of rota seeder and seed drill machines for farmers. The DC said these machines were being used to sow wheat. He said more than 4,000 farmers had been benefited by these demonstrations in the district.

The DC said the campaign had been launched under the National Food Security Campaign and Rs 1.14 crore would be spent on it now .He said farmers were being supplied these machines and other equipment like spray pumps and tractor-operated machinery besides fertilisers and pesticides at 50 per cent subsidy.

He advised the farmers also to go in for bee keeping as this could be flourish due to flora in the region. He also visited the coffee farm of Dr Vikram Sharma in Manjhoti village and Jagdish Prashad Sharma in Bhyole village.

Dr GC Lakhanpal, Deputy Director, Agriculture, said the next year the department would ensure such coffee plantations on10 hectares of land in the district on experimental basis.

Sundernagar, November 21
The new policy of the Justice-at-Door implemented by the Himachal Pradesh High Court recently was causing unnecessary harassment to thousands of litigants in the state.

The policy orders that all cases pertaining to different sub-divisions which were pending before courts of the District and Sessions Judges would be taken up at the circuit courts of different sub-divisions.

A family of the Dharmpur area of Mandi district became a victim of this policy and suffered a loss of more than Rs 1,000 per day as their case which was compromised about two months back and then transferred to the Sarkaghat sub-division.

As per facts, Jitender Kumar (34), who was serving as a supervisor with a company, Punjj Lloyad, and posted in Dubai, met with an accident in November 2010 and later died at the PGI, Chandigarh. His wife Nisha (31), daughter Yusmita (10) and mother Savitri Devi (57) filed a petition under the provision of the Motor Vehicle Act for compensation.

As the petitioner was in dire need of money, they compromised with the insurance company outside the court. The insurance company agreed to give Rs 41 lakh as compensation but when the parties came to the court last month, it was revealed that the case had been transferred to Sarkaghat from Mandi as per directions of the HP High Court.

The parties were informed that they would get fresh notices at Sarkaghat. Both of them kept waiting till date, but none of them got any notice about the next hearing of the case.

The petitioner tried to file the application for an early hearing to take up the case at Mandi, but they were told that they have to file such application at Sarkaghat.

Later, all the parties filed a joint application before the Mandi court stating that they have compromised and the case be taken up at Mandi, but the court insisted that the case would be taken up at Sarkaghat. The decision was not acceptable to the parties and it was resolved that the case be taken up before the National Lok Adalat at Mandi which would be held on November 23.

Thousands of cases have been transferred and would be taken up at the circuit courts in the sub-divisions.

Shimla, November 21
As many as 22 Bachelor of Arts (BA) first-year students failed to take their first semester final examination today, while over 100 others could not avail their roll numbers under the newly introduced Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) as the Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) and the Directorate of Higher Education continue to engage in a blame game.

Over 22 students who had gone to the examination centre in the evening college today morning found the centre locked and did not find the superintendent and invigilator there. They lodged a complaint at the Vice-Chancellor's office.

Many complaints also came from the other centres in RKMV, ICEDOl centre of the university and Nalagarh, said Rajan Harta, president, HPU, Students Council Association (SCA), which staged a protest in front of the V-C's office, demanding action against Vice-Chancellor ADN Bajpai and the Controller of Examination (COE) Narender Awasthi.

Awasthi had been on leave till today and had not joined duty as the state Vigilance is hunting for him in connection with the HP Cricket Association (HPCA) alleged land grab case at the Dharamsala college where he was the principal then.

About 36,000 students of BA I, BSc I and BCom I took their examinations under RUSA in the state today, said university sources.

The students resented that they were first asked to fill the offline forms and they were now asked to fill the online forms. But regular students have not got the roll numbers and date-sheet till now and many students enrolled through correspondence course did not get the study material till the last day into the examination.

“I am not aware how many students are taking the examinations and how many centres are there,” Bajpai said. “But this is due to some communication gap that about 20 students could not take the examinations today,” he added.

Bajpai said the COE was on leave till today, but he informed him that he had extended his leave till November 23. The work is not suffering as they have given the COE charge to the Registrar, he claimed and brushed aside questions raised by the students on RUSA semester system.

The students hold Bajpai and Awasthi and Director of Higher Education Dinkar Burathoki responsible for the lapses in implementation of RUSA.

Registrar Mohan Jharta said those students who could not appear in today’s examination would be allowed to sit in the next examinations without any extra fees. When Burathoki was contacted, his mobile phone was picked up by his PA, who said he was busy in the meeting. But later, he did not pick the phone.

Shimla, November 21
The right-wing students’ union, ABVP, today staged a protest in front of the office of the Deputy Commissioner against the state government, blaming it for the faulty implementation of the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA).

They raised anti-government slogans and blamed the government for enforcing RUSA without a proper exercise. Students were not getting roll numbers, date-sheet and centres were found to be locked, they said.

Shimla, November 21
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today said he was not afraid of the attack launched by the BJP and their comrade-in-arms against him and his family members to smear his image and reputation.

“I have faced such baseless accusations and false cases before too and come out clean on all counts and this time too, all wild allegations will fall flat,” he said in his first-ever reaction to the filing of a PIL against him in the Delhi High Court yesterday by Prashant Bhushan.

He said during the Assembly elections last year, national BJP leaders, including Arun Jaitley, had personally targeted him and levelled baseless accusations about his Income Tax returns and alleged favours to Ispat Industry. “Jaitley had not only illegally procured details of my IT returns, which cannot be obtained even under the RTI Act without the consent of the assessee, but had also flashed these before the media, withholding parts of it to suit the political motive of the BJP,” he stated.

The Chief Minister said he had never indulged in politics of vendetta and victimisation despite the fact that BJP members fabricated numerous false cases against him and held baseless inquiries. He added that he had come out clean in all these cases.

He said the probe against the "misrule and misdeeds of the previous BJP government" was being carried out by investigating agencies as per law and on the basis of the chargesheet submitted by the Congress. “I was not even a member of the chargesheet or the manifesto committee constituted by the AICC and as such, the allegations of vendetta being levelled against me are totally false and absurd,” he clarified.

He further said after the formation of the Congress government, the charge sheet was handed over to the state Vigilance Bureau for fair and independent investigation since the government was bound by responsibility to fulfil the promise made to people of the state. “The chargesheet contained serious charges of corruption and land scams against PK Dhumal, his family members, ministers and high-profile cases of land deals and change of land use involving Ramdev's Patanjali Yogpeeth, Prashant Bhushan's Educational Trust, Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association hotel, Bemloe construction and Annandale area,” he said.

Giving details of the case pertaining to Prashant Bhushan, the Chief Minister said he had purchased a tea garden at Kandbari in Palampur in the name of the Kumud Bhushan Educational Society, which he could not as there is a total ban on selling of tea gardens in the state to non-agriculturists. “This matter of illegal purchase of land was vociferously raised by political parties during the Anna Hazare movement, of which Prashant Bhushan was a part,” he said.

He said independent investigation was going on in the matter and apprehending legal action in this illegal land purchase case, Bhushan as a counsel for Common Cause has filed a PIL in the Delhi High Court against him, levelling the same old charges.

Virbhadra said during the Assembly elections, a story was manipulated in the media alleging that Ispat Industry had made some payment to him. He stated that neither any favour was received from the said industry nor any favour granted to it during his tenure as Union Steel Minister, a fact confirmed even by his successor, Beni Prasad Verma, who categorically stated that no favour was made to the company.

“The love and affection of the people of the state is my biggest fortune and strength and I do not require any certificate from anybody else, least of all from the Bhushans or BJP,” he said.

Shimla, November 21
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today said the newly created sub-cadre would go a long way in filling posts in various departments in inaccessible pockets such as Dodra Kwar.

Addressing a public meeting at Kwar in Shimla district, he said priority was being accorded to far-flung areas. The focus was on providing roads, drinking water, electricity, health, educational institutes and other basic amenities.

The Chief Minister said gram panchayats of Kwar, Dodra and Dhamwari had been provided road facility and efforts would be made to connect the remaining Jiskoon and Jakha panchayats with road before the next winter.

He said Jiskoon and Jakha panchayats would also be inter-connected with road.

He announced the construction of new building for Government Senior Secondary School (Girls) and Rest House at Kwar. He said a motorable road would be constructed up to Sewa Dogri from Naitwar in Uttarakhand which would provide all-weather road to the people of Dodra and Kwar. He said the school sanctioned for Jiskoon would be made functional from the next academic year.

Addressing a meeting at Dodra, he announced Rs 2 crore for construction of a new building of the local senior secondary school and Rs 3 lakh for construction of the premises of Jakh Devta, a local deity.

Earlier, the Chief Minister paid obeisance at Kwar-Jakha Devta temple. He also inaugurated an artificial insemination centre at Kwar and announced Rs 10,000 each to folk troupes which presented cultural programme.

Local MLA Mohan Lal Bragta thanked the Chief Minister for re-tendering of Theog-Kharapattar road and speeding up the pace of developmental works in the area. 

Mandi, November 21
Pratibha Singh, MP, Mandi, said providing roads, healthcare and education facilities in rural areas was the top priority of the state government.

Addressing a public meeting at Padsal under the Sundernagar Assembly constituency today, the MP said the state government was making every effort to provide basic facilities to the people on their doorstep. She said educational institutions were being opened and upgraded, besides opening health centres and laying new roads.

She said to upgrade the Pung-Padsal road, Rs 4.83 crore had been sanctioned and work on this road would start soon. The MP said the Churad-Chuman drinking water scheme would be started to improve the drinking water supply in the area and Rs 5.57 would be spent on it.

Similarly, the Kangu-Slappar-Dehar drinking water scheme had been approved and Rs 11 crore had also been approved for it, she added. Chief Parliamentary Secretary Sohan Lal Thakur also addressed the meeting and elaborated on various development works being undertaken in the Sunder Nagar constituency.

Nurpur, November 21
The state government authorities have failed to enforce provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act which prescribes the maximum load weight limit for public transport carriers on the highway at Kandwal barrier, the entry point of the state near here. Under the Act, the maximum permissible weight limit for trucks having six tyres has been fixed at 9 tonnes.

The offenders are supposed to be penalised at a rate of Rs 1,000 per tonne above the permissible limit and extra goods are supposed to be unloaded at the barrier. There is no checking of overloaded vehicles here. The plying of overloaded transport vehicles is causing damage to the road surface, polluting the environment through auto-emissions and causing revenue loss to the state exchequer in the form of Value Added Tax (VAT).

The state High Court, while disposing of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by local advocate Sumesh Raj and resident of nearby Suliali village in April 2007, had ordered the principal secretary, transport and excise and taxation department that no public transport should violate the maximum loading weight limit across the state. The High Court had also directed installation of weighing bridges at all entry points (inter-state barriers) in the state to check overloaded vehicles.

Sumesh Raj, the petitioner, rued that barring Kandwal barrier, the government had installed weighing bridges at all entry points in the state. “If transport authorities are unable to install weighing bridge in the wake of litigation, there is provision (as per rule) that the authorities could use private weighing bridges for weighing of loaded vehicles and its expenses are supposed to be borne by the vehicle owners,” he asserted. He said three such bridges were available near Kandwal barrier within 10 kilometres distance.

Anita Katoch, the Regional Transport Officer, Kandwal, said the state government had acquired private land for installing weighing bridge at Kandwal barrier, but the land owner had moved the High Court and taken stay order.

“Owing to staff shortage in the office, weighing of overloaded transport vehicles in nearby private weighing bridges is difficult and the department is waiting for the court's final decision. If the stay order is vacated, the department will install weighing bridge here,” she maintained.

Bilaspur, November 21
Prominent leaders of Bhakra oustees met Deputy Commissioner Ajay Sharma under the aegis of the All Party Bhakra Oustees Rights Protection Committee and submitted a memorandum addressed to the Chief Minister recently. They requested the CM to adopt a sympathetic view towards the land encroached by them in the town.

They stated the present policy against encroachment would adversely affect them and uproot them for the second time in 50 years.

They urged the government to revise the policy so that no oustee was disturbed.

They said the government had not given them their due land, which was acquired from them in the old town of Bilaspur. They said either this encroached land should be adjusted against that land or it be given on lease. 

Palampur, November 21
Rural health services in the Palampur region of the state have been adversely affected for the past few months. No emergency cases are attended to in rural health institutions. Most of the cases are referred to the Civil Hospital, Palampur, or DRPGMC, Tanda.Though the state government has appointed three medical officers in each Primary Health Centre (PHC), these health institutions have turned virtually into referral health centres, where no emergency cases are attended. Even ordinary patients suffering from simple diseases are referred to Sub-divisional Hospital, Palampur, or DRPGMC, Tanda.

Despite the fact that the state government has provided adequate infrastructure in these institutions, even ordinary deliveries are not conducted here. There are institutions in the region where only five to six deliveries were conducted in a year.

Even first aid is not given in accident cases to avoid medico legal cases (MLCs). Doctors posted in such institutions have been drawing salaries between Rs 75,000 and Rs 90,000 per month.

Since the CHC and the PHC have failed to cater to the needs of the public, 100-bedded Civil Hospitals in Palampur is always teeming with patients. In the absence of beds, most of the time, patients are accommodated in corridors of the hospitals. Medicine and gynaecology departments of the hospital remain over-crowded all the time.

Dr Vinay Mahajan, SMO, Palampur, said this hospital was upgraded to 100 beds in 1985. In the past 28 years, the population of this region had risen manifold, but the bed position of the hospital remained the same. He said the government should enhance the bed capacity from 100 to 200 immediately.

Besides, as most of the patients visiting the hospital do so in the medicine and gynaecology departments, the state government should lay more stress on strengthening of these departments and there should be more post-graduate doctors to cope with the rush of patients.

Shimla, November 21
Pup bites can be as fatal as dog bites because of faulty vaccination practices in the country under which puppies are immunised only after three months.

This has been brought out in a scientific study carried out to investigate some deaths caused by rabies. It has led to an important revelation that a majority of the puppies born to immunised bitches had a low level of immunity. Only 26 per cent of the new-born puppies has the requisite neutralising maternal antibodies and the 74 per cent remaining neonates had a low level of maternal antibodies which may be insufficient to prevent a rabies infection. It has also established that anti-rabies vaccination before three months does not in any way interfere with maternal antibodies and all apprehensions in this regard are unfounded. On the contrary administering the vaccine to neonates having the requisite maternal anti-bodies helps boosts immunity remarkably.

The findings of the study conducted by Dr Omesh Bharti, Health Officer, Shimla Municipal Corporation, and Dr Vidya Ramachandran, Deputy Director, National Institute of Epidemiology, Chennai, were presented at the 4th conference on “Rabies in Asia” held in Bangkok recently.

The study underlines the fact that the pup vaccination schedule based on the recommendation of the Centre for Disease Control, USA, was not suitable for rabies endemic countries such as India and should be revised. Veterinarians and public health experts need to consider vaccinating pups at the first contact with humans even if they are less than three months of age. A booster to the pup can be given at three months of age with subsequent yearly boosters for maintaining effective immunity levels.

Bharati said rabies, a zoonotic disease, was a serious problem as it claimed about 55,000 persons every year globally and out of these over 20,000 people died in India alone. He undertook the study after a mother and a son died of rabies contacted through abrasions caused by a month-old stray pup at Shiv Shankar Garh village of Arki block. In another case a 62-year-old woman of Panjgain village in Bilaspur, who was bitten by a two-month-old stray pup, died of rabies. While such incidents keep happening, veterinarians were refusing to vaccinate pups before three months of age, he added.