Ban on sale of gutkha sought
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, April 2
A special meeting of the Directorate of Social and Health Services and Guru Gobind Singh Study Circle, Ludhiana, was held here today in which a ban on gutkha and other chewable tobacco products and their open sale on tea stalls and illegally encroached upon canteens in and around the residential areas as well as around academic and religious institutions was sought.

Dr Charankamal Singh, Director, services, Directorate of Guru Gobind Singh Study Circle, urged the Punjab Government to impose a ban on sale of gutkha immediately . He said the state should follow the orders of Bihar Government which had banned the sale of gutkha in the state. He said regular use of these products led to oral cancer as well as the drug users’ blood vessels and heart, digestion and central nervous system were also badly affected.

He said the government of Bihar had done an appreciable job. An earnest appeal was made to the Government of Punjab to follow suit. Punjab should not waste any more time to ban such injurious tobacco chewables with immediate effect, he added.

CMC-run hospital at Rauwal
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, April 2
It was a joyous moment for people of Rauwal village when Christian Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) started an OPD clinic in the hospital built by villagers with the help of two of their NRI friends.

Dr John Pramod, Assistant Director, CMCH, said it started when Mr Mohinder Singh and the Sarpanch, Mr Gurbaksh Singh, approached CMCH to help in establishing basic healthcare facilities in their village. Initially, the OPD facilities would be available twice a week, on Mondays and Fridays, but later these would be extended. He said CMCH was also planning to provide in-patient and emergency facilities soon, and till then, patients who needed to be hospitalised would be treated at CMCH.

A team of 10 doctors headed by Dr Pramod set-off for Rauwal yesterday to start the OPD functioning. About 200 patients were examined and given free medicines on the first working day of the hospital. Mr Gurbaksh Singh said,”There is a Civil Hospital at Jagraon which is 15 km away and a government primary healthcare unit at Sidhwan bet. Therefore, villagers with the help of NRI friends have built this hospital which can provide at least the basic facilities to them. This hospital will not only serve to the Rauwal population, but also about 10 villages which fall under the 4 km radius of Rauwal”.