HEALTH

Jacob okays another storey for GH-16 OPD
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 22
The General Hospital in Sector 16 will have a new out patients block and a new cafeteria. Four old bungalows for doctors will be done away with to create additional space. The new block will also have a additional space of 12,000 square feet as an additional floor will be added to make the building five-storeys high thus having a total space of 62,000 square feet.

These changes were finalised at a meeting here this morning. The UT Administrator, Lieut Gen J.F.R. Jacob (retd), suggested that the building be made five-storeys high but should have the foundation to withstand the weight of seven-storeys keeping in mind that future expansions would have to be vertical with the city’s shrinking land. The meeting itself was an impromptu affair.

The General just ambled across to the Secretariat this morning after his usual morning meeting with senior officers. He asked his staff where does the Chief Architect sit and brushing aside insignificant matters of protocol casually walked into the room of the Chief Architect, Mrs Renu Saigal in the Secretariat.

The woman was obviously shocked. Then the General asked her about the plans for the new OPD block of the hospital. She said the plans were ready and showed the plans to him. By that time the General had also called Mr Karan Avtar Singh, Finance Secretary-cum-Secretary Engineering. Dr Ashok Gupta, the doctor who co-ordinates the matters relating to the new OPD block was also called. The General asked the doctor if the building plan was okay. The doctor told him that more space was required than the planned 50,000 square feet in four storeys. Without this certain facilities would have to be cut.

The Chief Architect was asked to add another storey and also plan for a generator in the basement for meeting exigencies. Initially it was discussed that the canteen should be located where it is now. The General would have none of this and ordered that a new modern cafeteria, which would cater to indoor as well as outdoor patients, should be planned. To make additional space available the General has ordered that four old bungalows of doctors which occupy around 6 kanals of space should be demolished and be incorporated into the hospital. The doctors will be allotted new houses within one month.

Sources said in one of these houses the Emergency Medical Officer (EMO) was living, who had to be near to the hospital. A house had to be found soon nearby to accommodate him.

Officials were also asked to expedite the work of building the new block for the Chandigarh polytechnic which is to be upgraded to the level of engineering college.

Kidney recipient vows to help PGI patients
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 22
Even the mask that 24-year-old Uma is wearing to ward off infection cannot conceal the radiance and excitement on her face as she prepares to return to her home in Dharbanga, Bihar, from where she had landed at the PGI as a frail and ailing girl in dire need of a kidney transplant. “ Having exhausted all money we had on the 150 dialysis that I underwent, we landed in Chandigarh on June 12 in search of life with practically no money,” says Uma, who has put on 7 kg since her successful surgery on October 11. What sets her apart from others who get a second lease of life at the PGI is that she has made up her mind to dedicate her life by serving people who come for treatment to the institute.

“ I will go home to meet my family only to be back here and look for a job either at the PGI or in the private sector so that I can help people who come here for treatment , “says Uma. Being a science graduate, the PGI officials have assured me that they will try and get me a job here and after training, I can be absorbed here permanently, she adds.

She is all praise for the PGI doctors, nurses and other staff who made her kidney transplant possible with all help and cooperation. “It was the PGI Public Relations Office which got my story printed in newspapers so that with the help of public donations my surgery could be performed,” says Uma, expressing her gratitude to all who saved her life. The entire cost of Uma’s surgery was met through donations from public after her story was carried by media.

It is not that amidst her happiness she has forgotten her younger brother, Keshav (22), who donated his kidney to save the life of his sister. “Apart from serving the sick and suffering, I will do everything possible for my brother, who left his studies to get my treatment,” she says.

Uma’s task in fighting the illness was made difficult not just by the fact that her family had no money, but what pained her all the more was the attitude of her in-laws, who after knowing about her problem, left her with her father. “Though my husband has been quite supportive, but due to his family’s opposition he could not do much and had it not been for the generous help from a number of people like Mr M.S. Bhandari and students of SD College, I wouldn’t have been alive today,” says a grateful Uma.

Training centre at PGI
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 22
The Community Medicine Department at the PGI has been identified as one of the five regional training centres in the country as the part of the Immunisation Strengthening Project to boost the declining trend in coverage. The head of the department, Dr Rajesh Kumar, said under the two-year project, 356 district health officers from Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chandigarh and Rajasthan will be trained at the PGI. “In view of the declining trend in immunisation coverage being witnessed in most of the states of the country, the National Institute of Health and Family Welfare (NIHFW) decided to launch a programme,” he said.

SGGSC-26 wins boxing championship
Our Sports Reporter

Chandigarh, January 22
Sri Guru Gobind Singh College, Sector 26, here bagged the overall Panjab University Inter-College boxing championship by garnering 29 points, with four gold medals, one silver medal and four bronze medals. The meet was held on the SGGS college campus only.

In the light heavy weight category (75-81kg), Ajit Pal Singh knocked out his rival Maninder Singh in the first round for the gold medal. In the feather weight category (54-57 kg), boxer Sandeep Yadav, another gold medallist, outclassed Jatinder Kumar from Mahilpur College. In the heavy weight category(81-91 kg), boxer Vishal Budhania also won the gold medal in the second round by giving excellent performance in the light weight category (57-60 kg), Vijender Rawat outplayed his rival to secure a gold medal. DAV College, Chandigarh, attained second place by securing 24.5 points with four gold medals and a bronze medal. SD College, Chandigarh, and SGGS Khalsa College, Mahilpur, got the third and fourth place, respectively.

Taekwondo championship: Abhijeet Shingade bagged the title in the below-18 kg section in the male sub-junior section in the sixth Roopnagar district Taekwondo championship played here today at Guru Nanak VBT Polytechnic, Phase I, SAS Nagar. According to Mr Satpal Singh Rehal, general secretary-cum-technical director, Punjab Taekwondo Association, 100 taekwondo players drawn from entire district took part in the meet.

Various winners are, male sub-junior:18-21 kg-Avdesh Kumar, 21-23 kg-Vimal, 23 -25 kg-Vikram Kumar, 25-26 kg-Rishav Chauhan, 27-29 kg-Sunil Yadav, 29-32 kg-Harshmeet Singh, 32-35 kg-Upendra Kuma, 35-38 kg-Mukesh Kumar, 38-41 kg-Amandeep Singh, 41-44 kg-Manpreet Singh, above 44 kg-Gurjot Singh.

Male junior: up to 45 kg-Gaurav Saini, 45-48 kg-Dev Raj Roy, 48-57 kg-Ramandeep Singh, 51-55 kg-Karanvir Singh, 55-59 kg-Mahajot Singh, 63-68 kg-Jatinder Pal.

Male senior: up to 54 kg-Gurpreet Singh, 54-58 kg-Ramesh Kumar, 58-62 kg-Harinder Singh, 62-67 kg-Amitoj Preet Singh, 67-72 kg-Balbir Singh, 72-78 kg- Jaidev Singh,78-84 kg-Bhupinder Singh.

Shooting course: Daleep Chandel and Parminder Singh of Chandigarh successfully attended the ISSF-Jury and Judges course for International ‘B’ licence in pistol shooting at Delhi. The course was conducted by the National Rifle Association of India. Twentyfive participants took part in the course, out of which nine participants passed the course, including one from Sri Lanka.

Admn clarification on village land
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 22
The Chandigarh Administration today clarified that it had notified its intent to acquire certain land outside Kishangarh village for the purpose of planned urban development.

The Chandigarh Administration is setting up the Chandigarh Technology Park separately on a site measuring 111 acres near the Sukhna Lake. The site of the park belongs to the Administration and was acquired many years ago. Therefore, the Chandigarh Technology Park has nothing to do with the proposal of acquisition of land in Kishangarh village, it was mentioned.