Plan to open 10 more centres to check TB
Pratibha Chauhan
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 18
There is a proposal to open 10 new directly observed treatment (DOT) centres under the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP) in city slums where 60 per cent of the tuberculosis patients are concentrated.

A majority of the 9,000 tuberculosis patients in the city are residing in slum colonies within the city, while a small fraction belongs to the rural slums like Hallo Majra and Daddu Majra. “In order to further strengthen our services, we have sent a proposal to the Municipal Corporation for setting up 10 DOT centres in slums having highest concentration of TB patients,” says a health official.

Health officials had met the Municipal Commissioner, Mr M.P. Singh, two days back to discuss the issue. “We already have 11 microscopic centres, two treatment units and 67 DOT centres covering the entire city, but for effective coverage of slums, we will set up 10 more centres,” says Dr P.K. Shridhar, in charge of the programme.

During the past one year, there have been 45 deaths in the city due to tuberculosis, while the percentage of defaulters, who gave up treatment before the course was complete, is nine. The national prescribed limit for defaulters and failure cases has been put at 15 per cent.

Though DOT centres are located in the vicinity of these slums, a need is being felt to make inroads into these areas, where the population is at high risk of contracting the infection. Health officials are hopeful that they will be able to set up new DOT centres within a month.

Another important step in generating awareness about TB shall be the involvement of schoolchildren in the effort.

Health officials involved with the implementation of the RNTCP point out that it is basically the clustering of various factors like poverty, illiteracy and malnutrition, which makes the slum population more vulnerable to TB infection. While the incidence of tuberculosis amongst male and female population of the city is almost the same, about 10 per cent of the TB patients are children.

“With the effective implementation of the RNTCP, we hope to break the epidemiological chain of those spreading the disease by giving infection to others. Satisfactory results will be visible after some time,” says Dr Shridhar.

“At present, there are about 2,000 TB patients taking treatment under the RNTCP, out of which half have been found to be ‘sputum-positive’, who can give infection to others,” say doctors. It is with the help of a very sound monitoring system that we ensure that people take their alternate dose of medicine during the intensive period of treatment, followed by their weekly dose, they point out.

Efforts have also been made towards establishing linkage by involving private practitioners, including homoeopathic and ayurvedic doctors, they say.

Resentment among PGI faculty
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 18
Resentment is brewing among PGI faculty members over the decision of the authorities to stay away from holding the departmental promotion committee (DPC) for those who became eligible for it on June 30, this year.

The cut off date for eligibility is determined by the number of years of service by June 30 for the faculty members. “The PGI authorities are holding the DPC for those who became eligible on June 30, 2002, after one year now, so why not hold it for us as well when we have also become eligible for it,” contented some of the faculty members.

They said the decision of the Director, PGI, to not call the faculty members becoming eligible for DPC on June 30, this year, has led to a lot of resentment. “When the members and experts who will hold the DPC for the two batches are the same, why can’t it be held right now, as it will save the PGI of the extra expenditure it will have to make later,” they said.

The faculty members said it was leading to a lot of frustration among doctors. “The splitting of the two batches is being done to cover up for the clerical error, because of which several faculty members from the 2000 batch have had to suffer,” alleged one of the doctors.

The PGI authorities, when contacted, did not reply to queries in this regard.

BCCI letter to Admn on teams’ selection
Tribune News Service

The pitch at the Sector 16 cricket stadium is being relaid. The Engineering Department has been allocated the work. A specific kind of clay having high binding qualities will be brought in from Sanghol village of Ropar and another village in Ludhiana. Technical assistance is being provided by the BCCI. Normally pitches need to be relaid within four to five years. Since the stadium is in a low-lying area from where the rainwater does not drain out fast the damage is even more.

Chandigarh, July 18
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has sent a letter to the Chandigarh Administration saying that it should select the teams for the under-17 and under-19 tournaments to be organised by the BCCI between November this year and March next year. The details about the required infrastructure have also been sent to the Administration.

The President of the BCCI, Mr Jagmohan Dalmiya, in his letter has stated that the New Area Development Programme is aimed at promoting cricket in small states and Union Territories like Chandigarh. A committee under the programme would coordinate with the ground and wicket committee of the BCCI and send curators to all states and UT to help in getting the pitches ready by mid-September. In Chandigarh the work on pitches has already started.

Coaching programmes have to be started for under-17 and at under-19 levels from mid-October. Identification and selection of cricketers for the coaching programmes has to be done by the cricket associations concerned wherever they exist, says the letter. A simultaneous programme for training coaches has also to be started.

Chandigarh already has two centres, one at the Sector 16 stadium and the other at DAV School, Sector 8.

As far as selections go, soon a meeting has been convened in which the Adviser to the UT Administrator is expected to be announced as president of the new body. On the player’s front, a senior Chandigarh official has been holding talks with the existing associations. This includes a formula under which players from Chandigarh will continue to take part in inter-district competitions organised by Punjab or Haryana to select their respective Ranji Trophy teams. This arrangement has to continue till Chandigarh gets full recognition.

Moreover, a team of the committee will visit Chandigarh in connection with the requirements of the ground equipment (rollers, grass cutters etc.) and gymnasium equipment and give their recommendations to the board.

During the visit the committee would ascertain and ensure that basic infrastructure like accommodation for coaches and officials, basic facilities at the ground like pavilion (change rooms), toilets, water and electricity.

Parminder leads air pistol ISSF event
Sports Reporter

Chandigarh, July 18
Parminder Singh of the Chandigarh Police was leading in the air pistol ISSF event with a score of 559/600 on the second day of the Chandigarh State Shooting Championship being organised by the Chandigarh Rifle Shooting Association here today at the Patiali ki Rao shooting range, Sector 25.

In the senior women air pistol event Harveen Sarao led with a score of 343/400.

The shooters who were leading on the second day are: air pistol ISSF — senior men: Parminder Singh 1, Gursarwinder Singh 2 and Kanwardeep 3.

Senior women: Minerva Singh 1 and Pooja 2.

Air rifle ISSF — senior women: Roopmeet Mann 1, Anaahat Dhindsa 2 and Sunmeet Dhindsa 3.

Senior men: Sarabjeet Singh 1 and Jaivir Singh Chandel 3.

Junior men: Jaivir S.Chandel 1.

Air Pistol (NR) — senior men: Navneet Singh 1, Puneet Sharma 2 and Surjeet Bhadu 3.

Junior men: Indermeet Sarao 1, Himanshu Sharma 2.

Sub-junior men: Aakash Pahuja 1, Shivender Sharma 2.

Senior women: Harveen Sarao 1, Nanki Singh 2 and Natasha Singh 3.

.22 Standard rifle OS (NR) Prone — senior men: Manjit Singh 1, Rajesh Kumar 2 and Jogender Singh 3.

Junior men: Bhai Gurjinder Singh 237/300 1, Mansimran Singh 2 and Kanwardeep Parihar 3.

3 position senior men: Gurdev Singh 1, Karambir Singh 2 and Manjit Singh 3.

Junior men: Bhai Gurjinder Singh 1.

Air Rifle OS (NR) senior men: Gurmandeep Sidhu 1 and Jatin Kukreja 2.

Swimming  competition

A swimming competition in various age groups for both boys and girls will be organised by the state swimming association on July 26 and 27 at the Panjab University swimming pool, Sector 14, Chandigarh.

According to Mr Ashok Sharma, general secretary of the association, the entry forms for taking part in the above two-day meet are available at both swimming pools located in Sector 23.

Nai Disha loses way
Ruchika M. Khanna
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, July 18
The much hyped networking of all district administration offices under the Nai Disha programme has come a cropper. With the administration having forgotten to update the data regularly, this scheme, which made Panchkula the first district in Haryana where all administrative work was computerized, has failed to take off.

This scheme provides a number of services at a single window under the indigenously designed computer software New Agent of Information- District Level Integrated Services of Haryana for All (Nai Disha). Information on 25 integrated services are available at tehsils and sub-tehsil — Panchkula, Morni, Barwala, Raipur Rani and Kalka — in information kiosks set up there.

The programme aimed at not only providing integrated services at one place in the district, but also bringing about transparency and efficiency in the functioning of the administration. The services being provided are details on certificates of birth and death, information on collector’s rate of land(prices of land fixed in Panchkula), forms and procedures( forms for driving licence, birth and death registration, pension, Antyodaya scheme etc.), database for below poverty line and electoral rolls. Other than this, public holidays; district profile; yellow pages; train time table; bus time table etc. are available under this scheme from these information kiosks.

However, less than two years after Nai Disha was introduced as a model in Panchkula, it has failed to take off. Sources in the district administration inform that on an average a mere two to three queries are received at each of the information kiosks daily. The data — be it on birth or death registration, public holidays, important telephone numbers; train time tables, bus time tables — has not been updated even once since it was first fed.

Senior officials in the administration inform that when Nai Disha was first launched, the data for birth and death registration was fed for the previous five years. This has never been updated. Similarly, the telephone code for the sub tehsils and tehsils have changed since, but there is no mention of the changed numbers in the programme.

A senior district official associated with the Nai Disha scheme, on condition of anonymity, said that the success of the scheme lies in its regular upgrading.