This was stated by Punjab Health Minister Baldev Raj Chawla, while inaugurating the 33rd free eye check-up camp at ESI Hospital here today. He said special clinics for sexually transmitted diseases (STD) would be set up in seven ESI hospitals in the state and all major hospitals would have ayurvedic wings attached to them. The Health and Family Welfare Department, he added, had initiated the steps to start the ESI dispensaries at Humbran, Kohara and Bhatha Dhuha in this district.

The minister said the vigilance committees had been set up in all ESI hospitals which would listen to complaints and grievances of the workers every month and would suggest measures to improve the working of these hospitals.

Exhorting the people for eye donation, Mr Chawla remarked that at least 30,000 blind in Punjab were in need of eyes. “Donating one eyes after death is noblest of all donations and every one of us should pledge to donate eyes.” He also asked the doctors to serve with selflessness and dedication and make available affordable and latest medical facilities to the poor patients.

According to Dr Chawla, the government had chalked out a plan for those suffering from tuberculosis, under which every citizen would adopt one patient. The department would also seek the help of voluntary organisations for this purpose. Responding to the demand raised by newly Deputy Speaker of assembly, Mr Sat Pal Gosain, the minister assured that pending grant of Rs 8.85 crore for the local civil hospital would be released soon.

Pending reimbursement bills of workers amounting to Rs 25 lakh were released by the minister at this occasion.

At night, moonlight lends a special charm to the campus. Nocturnal activity is rather simplistic. Health conscious people are seen walking in twos and threes. Sometimes families are out for a leisurely stroll. Somewhere a newly married couple walks arm in arm.

There are a few cars. Most of them are stopped at the gate. So the pedestrians feel free to walk leisurely. “After dinner walk a mile” seems to be followed literally by some residents of the campus. The university offers some beautiful walking tracks.

On the roundabouts, boys from the university hostel sit in groups, discussing their problems. But the most pleasing sight is that of a group of about 40 elderly men sitting in a circle engrossed in conversation, oblivious of their surroundings.

By about 10 p.m., everyone is returning, with the promise to meet again the next day. The walkers vanish, the boys are back in their hostel, and the families have retired for the night. From some houses come muted sounds of television sets.

Gold vs ceramics

Gold is out. Ceramics are in. Used for centuries for filling dental cavities the world over, the precious metal has now almost been replaced by ceramics for repairing damaged teeth, says Dr Vivek Saggar, a well-known dental surgeon of Ludhiana.

Ceramic clay has an obvious advantage over gold. For one thing, it is much cheaper. The precious metal is also soft with the result that it can at any time bend out of shape. But what is more important is that ceramic clay is more acceptable to the patient aesthetically. It is almost impossible to make out that a patient has undergone a dental job.

Dental care in India, which was rather fundamental till a few years ago, has now begun to modernise itself. Now more and more NRIs are getting dental treatment at Indian clinics because what might cost up to $ 5000 in the USA, Canada and Europe, would cost not more than Rs 15,000 in India. Similarly, the cost of dentures which could be up to a couple of thousand dollars, would be much less in India. And the quality and standard of dentures made here are comparable with those made anywhere in the world.

More and more laboratories and clinics in the city are upgrading their facilities. The city can boast of the first dental laboratory in the region which manufactures dental crowns and bridges with state-of-the-art equipment imported from France, Germany and Italy. Dr Vivek Saggar, who runs this laboratory, also claims to be able to make laminates and veneers (small thin coverings which are placed on the teeth). These coverings are useful to reshape the teeth and to mask discoloured teeth.

Out of tune

Time was when the toombi-seller was a favourite of children, urban as well as rural. Children would follow him in the streets like the pied piper of hamelin.

A small and compact instrument, the toombi, is fading out of our cultural scene, much to the chagrin of the lovers of our ancient culture.

Things have changed, tastes have changed, music has changed. the television, and its channels have brought about a dramatic change in the music scenario, and with computer games and personal computers the children of today find the toombi a quaint and out-of-date instrument.

The old man in the picture on this page can foresee the fate of his instrument and the sorrow in his eyes speaks volumes of the pain that he feels at the demise of the toombi which he had been making and selling for decades. Can’t something be done to save this sweet little instrument?

Hot and humid

They have to sweat it out literally. Attending commerce classes in the Government College for Boys in the absence of an adequate number of fans, coupled with the erratic power supply, is a rather hard task. Sweat trickles down their faces as these students sit in their classrooms.

Finding it difficult to attend the classes, particularly in hot and humid conditions, the graduate and postgraduate students of commerce sent a petition to the Principal last week presenting their problem. However, nothing has been done so far.

The B.Com. II classroom has only two fans when it needs four. There is no regulator or an electric connection. Some of the students confide that they often have to use kundi connection to run the fans.

The Principal of the college, Mr S.S. Sooch, is said to be out of station. The officiating Principal, Ms Chandermohini Garg, says since the college management has been busy with the admission process, not much could be done about it. Besides, the death of the college electrician has added to the problem. She promises that the problem will be solved soon.

Elevator scare

Why are people afraid of using elevators in Ludhiana? It was not so till recently. Two incidents of lift failure which left some persons stranded for quite some time have made people wary of using this facility. They now prefer to sweat it out, rather than take the risk of being stranded and getting no response to their call for help. It was natural for the word to spread as the persons caught in the elevator were a group of journalists.

Barely a month later, another group of persons was held up in another elevator in another multi-storied building. Their ordeal proved to be longer than that of the scribes. While the scribes were relieved in about half an hour, the latter group was held up for about one hour.

At a five-star hotel, a group of persons remarked that they would prefer to climb the stairs, rather than risk getting held up in the lift and miss the party they had gone there to attend.