The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

HEALTH

NGOs asked to put in their bit
Mental Health Programme inaugurated
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 9
‘‘There is a need for NGOs to come forward and cooperate effectively with the District Mental Health Programme like they do in the State AIDS Control Programme,’’ stated Mr Karan Avtar Singh, Finance Secretary-cum-Secretary, Health, UT Administration, while inaugurating the District Mental Health Programme at the Civil Hospital, Mani Majra here today.

A 10-bed unit has been made functional at the hospital as part of the programme, started in the city on the all-India pattern.

Mr Singh visited the patients in two wards and interacted with patients undergoing treatment under the 10-day free drug de-addiction camp. He also visited the OPD and talked to the doctors working there about the kind and number of cases of mental illnesses which come to the hospital.

Mr Singh appreciated the efforts put in by the Director, Health Services, UT and the Government Medical College and Hospital Sector 32 to start this programme in the city.

The unit which is already operational will provide a daily OPD facility from 9 am to 5 pm at the hospital to patients. The unit has a fully furnished and operational 10-bed ward for the purpose with an attached common room for the patients to interact and indulge in positive and creative activities.

‘‘The unit also has a five-member community team which will be actively involved in reducing cases of relapse and make home visits whenever required, ’’informed Dr B.S. Chavan, Head, Department of Psychiatry, GMCH-32, also the nodal officer of this programme.

Dr Rameshwar Chander, DHS, UT Administration, informed that with the efforts of the hospital staff and the sarpanches of the villages falling in UT they have succeeded in getting addicted persons admitted to the hospital for de-addiction.

The Director further said if the Health Department provided three more MBBS doctors to the Civil Hospital Mani Majra, then it would be possible to run the hospital for 24 hours.

Dr Raj Bahadur, Medical Superintendent, GMCH, was also present on the occasion. Dr M.S. Ahlawat, SMO-In charge of Civil Hospital, Mani Majra, extended all support for the programme. Dr Chavan also informed that unit forms only a part of the wide spectrum of other activities of the programme. These include half way home and home base programme which will be made functional soon.

Good emergency services their forte
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 9
We have all seen ambulances whizzing pass us on busy streets and hope that we are never in a situation in which we will require it. Wishful thinking! Because, at some point of time in our lives, a near and dear one may need to be rushed to an emergency.

The emergency department in any hospital is the first line of defence in the battlefield. Immediate specialised medical attention is required, so as to quickly diagnose the exact nature of the problem and provide fast treatment before any complications occur. Every minute counts. Therefore, it is important that a hospital is fully geared up to tackle medical emergencies in terms of expertise, facilities and competent personnel.

The emergency at the newly opened Fortis Heart Institute at SAS Nagar has taken care to ensure that high quality and fast emergency services are available for the people of the region, according to Dr Kuldip Gill, pulmonologist at the institute. Not just for cardiac emergencies, but other medical emergencies like appendicitis, gall bladder stone, pneumonia, severe gastroenteritis and burns.

The emergency here is headed by a doctor who has trained and worked in leading hospitals in the USA in the area of managing critical patients. He is supported by a dedicated team of postgraduate doctors, trained nursing staff and doctors on call from 16 specialities, making it possible to handle any kind of medical emergency, except accident or trauma, he says.

The emergency has, for the first time in the region, introduced international practices of critical care, like the “Triage” facility, where the patient is first taken for fast assessment and diagnosis of the exact problem. It is a 25-bed facility on the ground floor of the campus.

Hospital staff gate rally today
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 9
The General Hospital Sector 16 Class IV Employees Union has decided to hold a gate meeting tomorrow following what they called was a refusal to accept their demands by the Hospital Medical Superintendent when a delegation of the employees met him here today.

The employees have stated that the MS reportedly asked them to get out of his room and dared them to do what they could. The employees got together and raised slogans following this meeting with the MS. The employees are demanding promotion to security havaldar on the basis of seniority, allotment of new houses in Sector 24 to the employees and more off days.

Adventure festival from Feb 2
Our Sports Reporter

Chandigarh, January 9
The 8th National Adventure Festival will be organised from February 2 to 9. This was stated by Mr Ram Niwas, secretary of the National Adventure Club. He said about 500 boys and girls between the age group of 17 to 28 years would take part in various adventure sports activities like trekking, rock climbing, para sailing, river rafting, kayaking and canoeing, skiing, slithering and gliding. The festival will be sponsored by the Department of Youth Affairs and Sports, Union Ministry of Human Resource Development.

He said the participants would be divided into various groups and sent for activities such as trekking and snow skiing to Narkanda and Solang Nalah near Manali, for river rafting at the Ganga near Shiv Puri in Garhwal, for kayaking and canoeing at Pong Dam (HP), for aero sports and para sailing at the Civil Aviation Club, Pinjore and for water sports at the Sukhna Lake.

A marathon race will be organised on February 9. The main closing function would be held at the Cricket Stadium, Sector 16. Those who want to get themselves registered for the mega event may contact at 0172-701344.

Trials for National School Games

The National School Games in the disciplines of acrobatics and rhythmics for boys and girls in under-14, under-17 and under-19 age group will be held at Ambala Cantonment from January 20 to 24. The UT Education Department will hold the selection trials on January 11 at 2.30 pm at the Sports Complex, Sector 7. The players be of that specific age of the respective age groups as on December 31, 2002 and should be the students of below classes VII, X and XII respectively for under-14,under-17 and under-19.

Selection trials

The Sports Department, UT Administration, will hold the selection trials in four disciplines, athletics, handball, kabaddi and volleyball as per details given below for the XXVII National Sports Festival for Women (group II) to be held at Jagdalpur (Chattisgarh) from February 6 to 9. Athletics — at the Sports Complex, Sector 7 on January 12 at 3.30 pm; handball at DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 8, on January 14 at 3.30 pm; kabaddi at the Sports Complex, Sector 42 on January 12 at 3.30 pm while volleyball again at the Sports Complex, Sector 7, on January12 at 3.30 pm.

St Kabir win

St Kabir Public School, Sector 26, outplayed Little Flower School, Panchkula, by six goals to one in the Jailal Kuthiala Inter-School Football Meet held at St Kabir Public school. It was Ramanjot of class VII who scored all six goals. The one-day meet was organised by the Lions Club of Panchkula (central), Chandigarh.

ADMINISTRATION

Applications invited for house allotment
Monica Sharma

Chandigarh, January 9
The House Allotment Committee of the Chandigarh Administration has invited applications for the allotment of “higher and lower categories of houses” from “eligible employees”.

The application forms — to be collected from the heads of the departments — are required to be submitted in the Committee office by January 31. In a letter to the Chief Secretaries of Punjab and Haryana Governments, besides the Registrar of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the committee secretary has clarified that “eligible” meant an employee “working on regular basis in an eligible office or foreign service at Chandigarh, Panchkula or at SAS Nagar as long as he retained lien on the post”.

Giving details of an “eligible office”, the secretary has stated that the same meant an office of the Punjab and Haryana Government, the Punjab and Haryana High Court, or the Chandigarh Administration, located at Chandigarh, Panchkula or at SAS Nagar, the staff of which has been declared eligible for accommodation under the rules by the Chandigarh Administration.

The secretary has added that an officer can only apply for one category of house on prescribed ‘A’ and ‘D’ form. The UT Administration employees having their own “departmental pool houses” will not be entitled for the allotment of houses from Chandigarh Administration pool.

He further asserted that there was no bar as far as the higher category houses was concerned and “any eligible employee working in an eligible office could apply for the same”. The higher category of houses, as per the letter, included houses from Type 3 to 9 (old), besides Type 5 and 6 (new). The lower category of houses included houses from Type 10 to 13 (old) and Type 1 to 5 (new).

An employee, the letter has added, could apply for a house lower than this entitled category but the option was allowed only at the time of submitting the application and not thereafter.

The secretary has further stated that officers who had earlier applied and had their names in the old seniority list for a particular category of house, were not required to apply afresh as their names would be included in the revised seniority list for year 2002-2003.

Nodal officers to supervise works
Our Correspondent

Panchkula, January 9
The district administration has appointed nodal officers to supervise all development works being carried out in different gram panchayats under the Sampuran Gram Rojgar Yojna (SGRY) within the district.

In a press statement Ms Jyoti Arora, Deputy Commissioner said that Mr Rajesh Jogpal, City Magistrate, Mr M.S. Yadav, SDM, Panchkula, Mr Sunil Sarwan, Sub divisional Officer (C), Kalka and the District Revenue Officer had been assigned the jobs to supervise the development works at Morni, Raipur Rani, Pinjore and Barwala respectively.

Apart from this, District Transport Officer and General Manager of Haryana Roadways, Chandigarh, had been asked to supervise the works in various villages in other parts of the district.

Unauthorised rehris removed from Sector 23
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, January 9
The local police in a drive today removed at least 25 unauthorised rehris from near Sector 23D temple.

According to the Deputy Superintendent of Police (Central), Mr S.S. Randhawa, the rehris were using public land for past several years. The drive led by the DSP and Mr Vijay Kumar, Station House Officer of Sector 17 police station was carried on peacefully.

In addition, three wheelers and rickshaws parked on roadside opposite the Inter-State Terminus, Sector 17, were also removed and their drivers were asked to park the vehicles/rickshaws only at respective stands. Tea vendors and others engaged in selling eatables in Sector 22 opposite the ISBT were also removed.