The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

HEALTH

Over 20 doctors likely to be shifted
By Geetanjali Gayatri
Tribune News Service

PANCHKULA, June 10 — With the government taking a serious view of the doctors posted in excess of the sanctioned posts in the General Hospital in Sector 6, and the various primary health centres in the district, the receipt of transfer orders has begun coming in and over 20 doctors are likely to be shifted out of the district by the end of next week, causing a flutter amongst the fraternity.

While there are 10 doctors, who are drawing salaries against vacant posts in health centres in districts elsewhere in the state and are waiting sanction of posts after their case was moved to the state government, posts of 20 other doctors have not been sanctioned and these are the ones most likely to be affected with the passing of these transfer orders.

The reason being cited for the postings is the inability of the treasury to approve a budget against posts which have not been sanctioned for the district. They opine that funds, instead, are going to the districts where the sanctioned posts are lying vacant are being channellised to districts of plenty. Also, the officials of the treasury contend that approval for salaries will not come unless the budget gets the nod.

Previously, the salaries for the doctors were paid by passing of bills by the treasury which has been turned down with the office demanding ``authentic proof’’ on the basis of sanctioned budget to the department for the same.

The convention has been that the state government hands over the funds to the Health Department which in turn gives the finances to the various districts in accordance with the posts sanctioned for the area which raises the question of salaries for doctors working against non-sanctioned posts of the department.

The doctors in question have been in the township for over two years now and the idea was to have a state-level hospital in the township where all kinds of experts were available under one roof which did not actually come about. Consequently, while some branches have much more than the required numbers, there are other departments like radiology and dermatology among others which have hardly any doctor to their credit.

Sources add that the posting of doctors in the hospitals and health centres in the district is having a direct fallout in the other districts of the state where few doctors are willing to go."There are hardly any doctors in the rural belt of the state though posts are sanctioned in these primary health centres and salaries are being drawn each month implying thereby that the villagers are not getting the required medical facilities. This is just an exercise to strike a balance and even out the distribution of doctors,’’ a doctor contends.

Two such lists of six doctors from the township has already been received and there are other names in the pipeline which will be released in the coming week, whereby doctors drawing salaries from other districts have been asked to join at the respective hospitals.

Ironically, though the government has taken a stern view of the additional postings in the district and is preparing lists to transfer them to other districts, little heed has been paid to the budget allocation for salaries since an equal number have been posted to the hospital where, in reality, no sanctioned vacant posts exist, raising a question about the absorption of these doctors which remains unresolved.

Ten doctors posted at the General Hospital, Sector 6, have not received their salary for the months of April and May which are yet to be released according to information available.

The Director-General of Health, Dr PL Jindal, confirmed that doctors working under the planned budget head were yet to receive their salaries and added that sanction had come from the department today."The salaries will be released in the next couple of days and the delay was primarily on account of sanction of allotted funds by the treasury,’’ he said.

200 attend health camp for truckers
Tribune News Service

PANCHKULA, June 10 — Over 200 people attended a health and orientation camp for truck drivers and their families at the Majri Chowk in Sector 1, here today, organised by various non-government organisations.

Skin and VD specialists, gynaecologists, doctors for general medicine, eye and ear specialists conducted the health camp, and tetanus injections were administered on a large scale at the venue.

Speaking on the occasion, the Project Director, Haryana AIDS Control Society, Dr PL Jindal, stated that 20,000 truckers would be contacted during the year 2000-2001 in an intensive project to make them aware of the dangers of HIV and AIDS. He added that the project had been given to a team of workers belonging to a consortium of NGOs spearheaded by VOICE and REEDS.

The Additional Project Director, HACS, Dr GP Saluja, gave an informative lecture on the situation of HIV infection in the state. He said that almost 2000 infections were estimated in each district on an average and the number of full-blown AIDS cases was 79 in the state.

The Civil Surgeon, Dr HC Nagpal, gave useful insights into the various aspects of the epidemic making a deep impact on the audience. He said that the Haryana AIDS Control Society had taken up the task of addressing the health and awareness needs of target population groups like sex workers, truckers, migrant labour and street children.

The President, Rural Environment Enterprises Development Society, informed the kind of services that would be provided to the truckers. These include mobile health camps, counselling in the mobile teams, free medicines, facilitating syndromic case management of STDs and RTIs and distribution of condoms. They would counsel patients on the need to get themselves tested for HIV at the voluntary centres.

Others present on the occasion include Dr Aditya Chaudhary, Deputy Director, Blood Safety, NGO Adviser, Dr Rajni Lamba, and the District Health Officer, Mr S.P Bhardawaj. The other NGOs which participated in the workshop include the Unnat Bharat Vikas, Surya Foundation, Progressive Education Society and Foundation Aware.

AIDS awareness camp
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 10 — The Society for Social Health in collaboration with State AIDS Control Society, UT, organised an AIDS awareness-cum-medical camp for STDs/RTI diagnosis and treatment at Mauli Jagran as part of the ongoing family health awareness campaign.

More than 500 persons attended the camp. Of these 63 STDs and RTI cases were identified and given free medicines. Nine blood samples were collected for further investigations. Over 100 persons were given counselling , with a view to prevent and control the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Publicity material was distributed and talks on HIV/AIDS were also given. Street plays were also enacted.

Dr Joginder Singh, Director Health Services, UT who visited the camp, emphasised on the need to organise more such camps for the benefit of the city residents. He informed that in the nine camps held till date, nearly 660 cases have been treated for STDs/RTIs.

SPORT

Badminton camp impresses all
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, June 10 — ‘‘The camp was a real eye-opener for us since we learnt to play together and thus got the rare opportunity’’, felt Isha Sharma. She returned along with some others from the All-India north zone badminton camp held at Bhiwani (Haryana) from May 15 to June 9.

The summer camp was organised by the Badminton Association of India in collaboration with the Sports Authority of India. As many as 29 trainees, both boys and girls, in under-13 and under-16 sections, attended this camp, which was supervised by three coaches of SAI from different zones. These were Surinder Mahajan of SAI, Chandigarh, Shwetank Verma of Dhar (MP) and Sunita Sharma. The overall in charge of the camp, Surinder Mahajan, told that the last camp of this kind was held in December last at Jalandhar.

The views of some trainees were taken in sealed cover by the coaches. Afroza Ali of Udaipur said she was a bit upset when she reached the camp as the place was very boring, with not much of recreational activity. But after three days, the practice made her forget other luxuries. Gauri Sharma of Panchkula said it was nice to have water training, which she came to know for the first time. It was done in still water, with a chain formed by boys and girls. She felt that the summer camp should have been organised in some hill station, which would have increased their output level and endurance.

Nishu Kalhotra Jammu was of the view that shuttle training and water training were quite interesting and wished the camp extended for another 10 days. Anup Paras of Theog said in their state they were never exposed to such advanced exercises and playing with other state players in the camp was quite knowledgeable. He hoped that if this camp was held on rotational basis in every state, more players from that state could join, removing their weaknesses. Sachin Garg of Panchkula said in the camp, he was able to know his weak points in the game and also equipped himself with new exercises by making a strict schedule.

Anshul Aggarwal of Panchkula said food was fine. In the beginning, some players fell sick as it took them time to adjust to new surroundings. Madhvi of Delhi said, ‘’at the end of the camp, it looked as if it belonged to an undivided family and the last day campfire made people weep. Smarika Manhas of Jammu praised the coaches. She said her parents were initially reluctant to send her for the camp, but later she made them agree.

Karate trials: The Amateur Karate Association of Chandigarh will hold trials to select the UT karate team on June 12 at St Joseph’s High School. The selected team will take part in the national karate championship to be held at Darjeeling from June 23 to 25. The meet will be organised by the All-India Shito -Ryu Karate Federation. Gold medal winners in the national meet will take part in the world Shito-ryu karate championship, to be held in Tokyo in August.

400 kids cycle for prizes
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 10 — More than 400 boys and girls from various parts of the city turned up at Sukhna Lake to participate in the second edition of the Bicycle Safari organised by the Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Development Corporation (CITCO) in collaboration with Bharat Petroleum. Participants belonged to the 12-to-15 years and below 12 years age groups.

The safari was flagged off by Mr Satish Chandra, Managing Director, CITCO, and prizes were given away by the Chairperson of CITCO, Ms Neeru Nanda.

Ms Nanda announced special prizes for 10 tiny tots. One of the participants completed the 11-km- safari route on bicycle with supports.

Consolation prizes, including T-shirts and food coupons worth Rs 100 each were presented to 200 participants.

The following are the results:

Boys (12-15 years group): Kulwinder Singh 1, Brahmjit 2 Pradeep 3;

Girls (12-15 years) : Gurnoor Kang 1, Sairu Nisha 2 and Meenu Devi 3;

Below 12 years : Sanjay 1, Charanjiv 2, Rubal Soni 3.

A skating competition will be organised tomorrow at Sukhna Lake by CITCO at 6.30 a.m.

Handball body office-bearers

CHANDIGARH, June 10 — Chandigarh Handball Association elected Mr RP Garg and Mr Rahul Talwar as its President and Secretary, respectively, for the next term of four years. The other office- bearers are: Chairman — Mr Ravinder Talwar, Senior Vice-President — Mr VP Paul, Vice President — Mr R.Sharan; Joint Secretaries — Mr S. Gandhi, Mr Sanjeev and Mr Ravinder Bawa;Treasurer — Mr Anil Sharma.

Skating carnival: Rollerbones Skating Club will hold a city skating carnival on June 17 and 18 at Skating Rink, Sector 10. The skating events will be held in speed, artistic and roller hockey events. There will also be other games such as fancy dress, balloon bursting, musical chairs, tug-of-war and obstacle race. Entries can be given at the venue daily from 4 pm to 7 pm, according to Mr Harbinder Singh Ranauta, President of the club.

ADMINISTRATION

‘Debar encroachers from poll’
Tribune News Service

SAS NAGAR, June 10 — With the local Government Department announcing a fresh date of holding elections to the SAS Nagar Municipal Council, the local Environment Protection Society has once again urged the Punjab State Election Commission and the Punjab Government to debar those persons from contesting the civic body elections who have encroached upon public land.

Citing the Punjab Panchayati Raj Act, 1994, and provisions in other acts, the society has urged the government to implement its suggestion.

It is pertinent to mention that earlier, the Election Commission had struck down a move by the Local Government Department to prevent a candidate from contesting in the elections who had encroached upon public land.