HEALTH

Santa brings smiles to CMCH
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, December 25
Christmas is not only a festival of joy but it also signifies togetherness, faith and care. All over the world, people, irrespective of caste, creed or colour, enthusiastically celebrate this festival of selfless service. Keeping the old age tradition alive, the Christian Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) organised a series of programmes to mark the solemn occasion.

Dr Rajeev Kapoor, Deputy Medical Superintendent, said," The decorations done on all the roads linked to the CMCH itself speaks loud of the festive spirit of the hospital staff. Inside the hospital also, matches the outer decorum with a Christmas tree standing tall in the reception area. Everyone’s favourite Santa Claus greets you with the candies at the doorway. The Santa is been there in the hospital since December 20, distributing candies to the children and comforting them in a paediatrics OPD and the wards. On the Christmas eve, Santa distributed the gifts and fruits to all the children hospitalised at the CMCH. For that moments, all their pain and suffering vanish and the joy on their face could not be missed”.

Dr Jaison, the acting Director said," Christmas, now is celebrated by all. Children wait the whole year for the Santa to come and give them the gifts and the children who are not been able to celebrate the festival with their families because of their illness, are just the same. Moreover Santa also is symbolic of happiness and hope that the sufferings are short lived. Thus the idea of the Santa giving gifts to all the 65 children hospitalised was welcomed by all”.

Adding to this, the priest Reverend V.K.Masih said," The essence of Christmas celebrations is to realise that we are not hapless human beings thrown into this world, but we are the children of the God who shares our pain and sorrow so that we can be in peace. As a whole, the services and the prayers rendered were to wish patients, a speedy recovery”. On this occasion, Dr Jaison also embarked the designed institutional calendars for the year 2003.

Meanwhile, the children at Sarabha Nagar Market celebrated Christmas with enthusiasm as they got an opportunity to get free horse and camel rides. Mr Suresh of Target Videogames said," Throughout the year, these small kids give us business. At least for one day, we can pamper them. Santa Claus, Donald Duck and Micky Mouse are there to greet them and distribute free sweets to them. They are being given free rides for two hours”.

Travails of an Indian doctor
Amardeep Bhattal
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, December 25
They burnt the midnight oil, laboured through tough courses while sacrificing personal pleasures in pursuit of a mission — to serve fellow human beings in distress. Today many of them feel cheated under a system which strangely enough overlooks their contribution towards society while holding them responsible for every single lapse, at times not of their own doing. Yes, the travails of the Indian doctor, ever since his functioning came under the ambit of consumer courts, have multiplied.

Meet Dr Bhupinder Singh and Dr Davinder Kaur, a doctor couple who set up a nursing home in a rural area of Ludhiana district. Dr Bhupinder Singh is an MBBS, MS (Surgery), while his wife, Dr Davinder Kaur, is MBBS MD (Gynae). Having completed their studies, they set up the Sran Nursing Home after taking a loan from the Punjab Financial Corporation near Dakha village in Ludhiana district more than a decade back. Ever since, countless human lives have been saved at the small institute situated on the accident-prone Ludhiana-Ferozepore highway. Accident victims, terminally ill patients, and those requiring major surgeries have got a new lease of life, thanks to timely medical aid at the nursing home.

Elderly village folk, while acknowledging their contribution in saving precious lives, recall with horror the days when the nearest hospital was situated miles away and means of communication were limited. “Not only were medical services limited, city hospitals were also out of reach for villagers. Patients died for want of immediate medical attention. Today, thanks to the large number of nursing homes, medical aid is available at short distances,” says Mr Mohinder Singh, a farmer.

However, many doctors like Bhupinder Singh, while pursuing their mission to serve humanity, are also trying to face an onslaught on another front. Kin of patients, terminally ill or afflicted with serious diseases, or those who suffered some loss through their own negligence or otherwise, rush to consumer courts with complaints of deficiency in services. The compensation awarded leaves a big hole in the doctors’ pockets. For instance, in January, 1999, Palwinder Singh of Dhulkot was blessed with twins at the nursing home. After birth, the infants developed hand infection leading to gangrene and subsequent loss of a finger each. The parents assisted by a lawyer approached the consumer court which, in May,2002, awarded a mind-boggling compensation of Rs 17 lakh to the aggrieved. An appeal is now pending before the National Consumer Court in New Delhi.

In another case, Dr Ramesh Jain of Raikot has been directed to shell out Rs 6.5 lakh as compensation to kin of two patients, one of whom, Ms Narinder Kaur of Jhoradan village, died in 1997, despite his best efforts. Of this amount, Mr Chamkaur Singh, another patient, who lost movement in a foot, has been awarded Rs 2 lakh

“It’s a vicious circle,” says Dr Bhupinder Singh. “Doctors are constantly under pressure to perform to the optimum level. While every sincere effort on our part to save precious human life at the cost of our family life goes largely unnoticed, a single lapse, whether on our part or arising out of ignorance and negligence of patients’ kin, puts our heads on the guillotine. Is this fair? Are we not human beings?

SPORTS

Shambu, Narinder adjudged best athletes
Our Sports Reporter

Ludhiana, December 25
Shambu, a student of Class VIII and Narinder Singh, a student of Class XI were adjudged the best athletes in the u-17 and u-19 years categories, respectively, in the IIIrd annual athletics meet of the SDP Senior Secondary School, Hazoori road, and Om Parkash Gupta SDP Model Senior Secondary School, Quilla Mohalla, held at the SDP College for Women here today.

Around 350 students participated in the meet. Mr Bachhitter Singh, District Education Officer (Secondary), distributed the prizes. The students of two participating schools presented bhangra on the occasion. Mr Balraj Bhasin, Mr Ved Parkash Gupta, president and general secretary of the SDP management committee, respectively, Ms S. Verma, Principal, SDP College for Women, Mr Teja Singh, president, Punjab Aided Schools Union, and Mr Ranjit Singh, president of the local unit, were also present at the prize distribution function.

Results:- (u-19) — slow cycling race- 1 Mukesh Kumar, 2 Raj Kumar, 3 Honey; three-leg race- 1 Ankur and Sarbjeet, 2 Deepak and Balwinder, 3 Jyoti and Pawan; 100 m 1 Narinder Singh, 2 Mohan Singh, 3 Vikas; 400 m- 1 Narinder Singh, 2 Vinod, 3 Kamaldeep; 200 m- 1 Rajiv, 2 Narinder Singh, 3 Vijay Kumar; 800 m- 1 Manoj Kumar, 2 Rajiv, 3 Anil; shot put- 1 Amandeep, 2 Shiv Kumar, 3 Sunil; hammer throw- 1 Jatinder, 2 Sunil, 3 Anand; 1500 m- 1 Naresh, 2 Ram Laxman, 3 Ram Milap; long jump- 1 Mohan Singh, 2 Shiv Kumar.

(U-17) — slow cycling race- 1 Money, 2 Ashu, 3 Sunil Kumar; three-leg race- 1 Sandeep and Nihal, 2 Surinder and Harjeet, 3 Mohit and Raj Kumar; 100 m- 1 Rahul, 2 Rajeev, 3 Mani; 400 m- 1 Malkit Singh, 2 Rohit, 3 Vijay; 200 m- 1 Shambu, 2 Harjeet, 3 Rajeev.

Ludhiana softball teams

The following players have been selected to represent the Ludhiana district in the Punjab State Senior Softball Championship slated to be held at Pathankot from December 29 to 31. According to Mr P.N. Passi, honorary general secretary, Ludhiana District Softball Association, on the basis of their performance during this meet, the Punjab teams will be finalised for the Senior National Championship scheduled to be held from January 12 to 17 at Agra.

(Men) — Mandeep Singh, Nitin Sharma, Harjot Singh, Amanpreet Singh, Puneet Sharma, Harpreet Singh, Baljeet Singh, Tek Chand, Satish, Shashikant, Vijay, Gurpreet Singh, Iqbal Singh and Gurpreet Singh. Mr Ajinder Kumar and Mr Amrik Brar will accompany the team as coaches while Mr Jugal Kishore will be the manager.

(Women) — Prabhpreet Kaur, Neetu, Asha, Palwiner, Amanpreet, Kuljeet Kaur, Sunaina, Gaganpreet Kaur, Shaminder Kaur, Kiranveer Kaur, Gurpreet Kaur, Dashveer Kaur, Ashu, Rajni and Parveen. Mr Kuldip Gill and Mr Lalit Kumar will accompany the team as coaches and Mr Sonu will be the manager.

BVM school students to be honoured
Our Sports Reporter

Ludhiana, December 25
Sixtyone students of Bharatiya Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School, Shaheed Udham Singh Nagar, Ludhiana, who have excelled in different sports disciplines at the inter-schools and district, state and national level tournaments, will be felicitated for their achievements during the annual athletic meet of the school at its Kitchlu Nagar branch on December 26.

The names of the students are (athletics) — Priya Bawa, Maneet Sharma, Deepak Kumar Gautam,Noleena, Gaurav Bajaj, Kalika Gupta, Mohit Gupta, Gagandeep Bedi, Ashim Sharma, Sahil Aggarwal, Vikrant, Kanav Sharma, Tarun Suneja; basketball — Sakshi Talwar, Isha Jagota, Manisha Verma, Saurav Yadav; table tennis — Nirdosh Sood, Kirti Aggarwal, Shweta Lamba, Somia Gupta, Jagdeep Singh,Sumit Aggarwal, Parmod Gupta; Volleyball — Nivesh Sharma; chess — Tina Bhandari, Ambika Marwaha, Ginni Sekhri, Silky Dhir; football (boys u-19) — Yogesh Sharma, Mandeep Singh, Sahil Jain, Anshul Singla, Mohit Gupta, Suraj, Binny Arora, Harsh Sharma, Deepak Kumar, Robin Sharma, Varun Kalia, Yogesh Kumar, Abhinav; football (boys u-17) — Vikas Soni, Jatin Ahuja, Deepak Soi, Rishav Sharma, Dalpreet Singh, Amit Sharma, Nikhil Gupta, Mandeep Singh, Ankur Swaroop, Aadish Jain, Nitin Arora, Mandeep Singh; judo — Ropali Arora, Nidhi Arora,Manjeet Kaur, Parul Khanna, Surbhi; Yoga — Ish Tandon; and Swimming — Sukhjeet Singh.