The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

HEALTH

I wanted to be an IAS officer: Sharma
By Poonam Batth
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 5 — “I am on the top of the world,’’ said Dr S.K. Sharma, replacing the telephone receiver on the cradle in the drawing room of his Sector 24 residence soon after receiving the news of his becoming the Director of the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) here.

Gently passing his fair fingers through the well-combed brown hair he said, “I got the good news only on reaching the city. The proceedings must have been going on while I was travelling from Delhi in a deluxe bus.

Clutching his head with both his hands Dr Sharma said, “I am feeling as if lot of responsibilities have come on me and at the moment all sorts of thoughts are crossing my mind as to how I am going to go about this arduous task’’ Flooded with phone calls from friends and well-wishers congratulating him and surrounded by his family, he said that “I would strive to maintain the traditions and standards laid down by my illustrious predecessors — be it in patient care, teaching or doing research.’’ He succeeds Dr B.K. Sharma, who retired on November 30.

“The first and foremost task before me is to revive the partly lost glory of the institute, particularly in the field of academics and research,” said Dr Sharma, who would ensure that the institute retains its supremacy in all fields. His other priority would be to maintain cordiality among different sections of the staff, both employees and faculty.

Dr Sharma, who had to face a tough competition from a host of well-placed senior doctors for appointment to this post said, “I think my administrative experience as Professor of Hospital Administration-cum-Medical Superintendent ,PGI for over an year will come in handy”.

“Besides this my own hard work, best wishes of near and dear ones and faith in God helped me bag this topmost position of this prestigious institute,” said Dr Sharma.

Dr Sharma is also in favour of upgrading the Institute technologically since it is recognised the world over for super specialisations. “Modern medicine is technologically based and we should strive to equip it with the latest gadgets based on changing techniques,” he said.

Hailing from Palampur in Himachal Pradesh, Dr Sharma said that in the past also the issue of maintaining the identity of the PGI as tertiary referral centre has been taken up, but the social structure of the country is such that the referral system has not worked anywhere as a patient in distress cannot be turned away. However, the advent of Government Medical College, Sector 32, and the expansion of General Hospital, Sector 16, would eventually bring some relief by taking away the routine load.

Dr Sharma also expressed a desire to take up with the governing body the issue of recognising the services of ad hoc doctors on a one-time basis.

Coming from a simple and humble family in Himachal Pradesh, Dr Sharma wanted to be an IAS officer and work for people at the grass-root level but his parents wanted him to be a doctor. “Life has been a struggle at every step, but then all that I have achieved in various capacities during the last three decades in the PGI has been no mean achievement. ”My father was a principal of a Higher Secondary School but we all brothers have risen to top positions, thanks my parents’ guidance, moral support and by virtue of our hard work and determination”.

His wife, Dr Meera Sharma, who has recently become Professor and Head of the Microbiology Department, was all smiles and said that she was proud of her husband. His hard work has yielded the desired results. Dr Sharma also said that “I could not have done it without my family’s support, who stood by me and encouraged me to go ahead with whatever was professionally good for me. “His daughter, Shilpa, who is presently doing her MBBS, was also busy serving sweets to the visitors who were coming to greet her father.

Expressing satisfaction on being given an opportunity to serve as the Director of the institute, he said that he now looks forward to his tenure and come up to the expectations of all those who reposed faith in his abilities.

SPORT

Beauty of being airborne
Tribune News Service

PINJORE, Jan 5 — The Deputy Commissioner of Panchkula, Mr S. K. Monga, appealed the youth to participate in adventure sports so that they may develop self confidence at the inaugural function of the three-day parasailing and gliding workshop which began at the Haryana Aviation Club here today.

He said the adventure sports not only develop mental faculties of the youth but also instill in them a sense of discipline, unity, leadership and national integration. Such workshops provide opportunities for the rural youth to take part in these activities.

As many as 100 children from various parts of the state participated in the workshop.

A sum of Rs 500, Rs 300 and Rs 200 will be awarded to the participants who bag the top three positions.

Prachi, a Class VII student chosen from Panchkula, said that it feels great to be suspended in air for some time. "It is a beautiful experience, though unnerving initially. However, once you are airborne, the fear just vanishes,'' she says.

Another participant of the workshop, Gagandeep Kaur from Hisar, explains, "It is only the initial hesitation. Once you are airborne, all you can think of is the beauty that surrounds you. Everything else ceases to exist and you feel you are on top of the world.''

ADMINISTRATION

Rehabilitation units in a state of neglect
By Pradeep Sharma
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 5 — When it comes to wasteful expenditure, the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) seems second to none. At least this is the impression one gets after seeing the plight of 264 dwelling units constructed by the the board in Colony No 4 here for the rehabilitation of slum-dwellers.

Constructed under the much-criticised and lopsided rehabilitation policy of the Chandigarh Administration, the double-storeyed one-room tenements are today in a state of drift, thanks to the indifferent attitude of the Chandigarh Administration and the board. In the absence of allotment even after 10 years of their construction, the dwelling units seem to be nobody’s baby.

It may be recalled that the dwelling units were completed by the CHB at the instance of the Estate Office in 1990, which was asked to allot the dwelling units by the board. Though the Estate Office was to pay back the amount spent by the CHB on the construction of the dwelling units, the matter rests there and had reportedly failed to move beyond the files.

The dilly-dallying tactics by the Estate Office, coupled with an abnormal increase in the migratory population, ensured that the dwelling units were never occupied, with the result that their condition went from bad to worse over a period of time. The illegal occupation of certain units by colony residents and their misuse by the anti-social elements only compounded the problem.

The houses, which were built with a view to rehabilitate the slum-dwellers, had become a source of nuisance even for the Colony No 4 residents, not to talk of the entrepreneurs in the Phase I of the Industrial Area across the road. In the absence of any check by the authorities concerned, the houses had become an ideal refuse for the anti-social elements, alleged Mr Jai Parkash, who runs a shop nearby.

A visit by The Tribune team today revealed that the area was under a wild growth of vegetation. Apart from that, the tenements were being used for urinating and defecating by the colony residents. The team had difficulty in entering the complex as the stench was unbearable. It seemed the complex had not been cleaned for a long time.

Officials of the administration only visited the area once in a blue moon, and after ordering cleanliness of the area were nowhere to be seen, alleged Mr Jai Parkash, adding that the last cleanliness drive was conducted over a year ago when the residents were told that the dwelling units were to be auctioned for industrial purposes. Since then, no senior official had ever cared to visit the area, he complained.

Meanwhile, the entrepreneurs across the road had their own share of the problems. The colony residents, apart from defecating in the dwelling units, defecated along both sides of the road, thus creating insanitary conditions in the area, alleged Mr Nirmal Sarda, an industrialist. If the administration cannot rehabilitate the thousands of the illegal “jhuggi-dwellers”, why had it allowed them to grab public land worth crores of rupees, he asked.

Another entrepreneur, Mr Pardeep Parshad, was more vocal. He said: “If the complex was not to be occupied, why was it built incurring lakhs of rupees of the income tax payers”, he asked, adding that it was a criminal waste of the public money.

Jain claims credit for Admn decision
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 5 — A former local MP, Mr Satya Pal Jain, has expressed surprise at the statement issued by a spokesman of the Chandigarh Administration which says that the administration has now decided that only those persons, who were on the electoral roll of Chandigarh on December 8, 1996, shall be entitled to the benefit of rehabilitation under the Rehabilitation Scheme of 1979.

Mr Jain said this decision was taken by the administration about two years ago when he was the member of the 11th Lok Sabha. He said that date December 8, 1996, was fixed because the first elections to the Municipal Corporation were held on that day. He said besides this, the information was also given in the Lok Sabha in reply to a question put by him and the relevant rules were amended at that time. He said he could not understand why some officials of the administration, issued the press note yesterday, giving an impression that the decision was taken in the past few days. He alleged that it seemed that the administration wanted to give the credit of a decision taken about two years ago to a particular individual for the reasons best known to it.

Civil-military conference
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 5 — The annual civil military liaison conference (CML) of the states of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi and the Union Territory of Chandigarh will be held at Headquarters Western Command, Chandi Mandir on January 7.

A statement issued here said that the Governor of Haryana, Mahabir Prasad, will address the inaugural session of the CML.

Besides the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command, formation commanders and other senior staff officers, chief secretaries, home secretaries and directors-general of the police from the states concerned will attend the conference. Senior officers from the BSF, CRPF and the ITPB will also attend the conference.

The military and civil dignitaries meet annually to coordinate and discuss important issues of common interest that are likely to emerge during various contingencies in the region and to evolve a synergised approach to deal with them effectively. Various matters related to emerging security threats, management of natural calamities and law and order problems will also be deliberated upon during the day-long CML.

Encroachments in Sec 22 removed
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 5 — The enforcement wing of the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC) today removed encroachments from outside the Bajwara market in Sector 22 here.

According to sources, four khokhas and over 50 pharis were removed from outside the market and Shishu Niketan High School, Sector 22. The operation, which continued from 10.30 a.m. to 6.30 p.m, passed off peacefully.

It was one of the major demands of the shopkeepers and the school management that the encroachments, a majority of which were on the parking area of the market, be removed. There were also allegations that certain shopkeepers were behind the encroachments and charged monthly amounts from the encroachers.

The enforcement staff also removed certain encroachments from outside the Shastri Market in the sector.