Ludhiana, December 1
Hundreds of people suffering from different ailments today availed medical services at the one-day medical and dental camp organised by the Christian Medical College and Hospital at Pohir village, about 23 km from here. The camp was held in cooperation with the Shaheed Baba Badhbag Singh Sports Club and the village panchayat.

A CMC spokesperson said medicines were provided free of cost to the patients. More than 600 patients were given free medical advice under the various specialties like, dental (53 patients), paediatrics (39 patients), gynaecology (51 patients), surgery (13 patients), orthopaedics (107 patients), ENT (53 patients), eye (130 patients), dermatology (77 patients) and general medicine (130 patients).

Lab tests, ECG and X-ray facilities were made available to the patients at the camp. Free langar was also provided to the patients.

Mr Jagpal Singh Khangura, a senior Congress leader, inaugurated the camp. In his address, he lauded the efforts of the CMCH to provide the best treatment to the people of peripheral villages of Ludhiana at their doorsteps and expressed gratitude towards one and all those who worked towards making this camp a success.

Dr John Abraham, Medical Superintendent, thanked the club and the village panchayat for their cooperation. He asserted that the mission of the CMCH is to train doctors and nurses so that they reach out to the remote areas and the poor who need medical services and holding such camps more frequently in more areas is a step towards that mission.

Ludhiana, December 1
More than six names of senior doctors are being considered for the prestigious post of Civil Surgeon, Ludhiana, following the retirement of Dr S.N.Tiwari. It is learnt that there has been tremendous pressure on the authorities from politicians and bureaucrats to recommend their candidates for the post. Department officials also confirmed that many people were in the race for the post.

One of the senior doctors on condition of anonymity said for the first time nobody had an idea about district’s new Civil Surgeon.” Till the time someone takes the charge formally, we cannot comment on it. In any case, we have to work. But we would like to work under good leadership, who would be cooperative and accommodative too”, he said.

Sources in the health department revealed that names of Dr Y.C.Markan, Civil Surgeon, Hoshiarpur, Dr Rajinder Kaur, former Civil Surgeon, Ludhiana, Dr S.S.Sohal, Deputy Director, Health and Family Welfare, Chandigarh, Dr Rana, Civil Surgeon, Ropar, and Dr Walia, Civil Surgeon, Moga, had been recommended.

One of the office-bearers of the District Health Employees’ Union said it hardly made any difference. “But before appointing any Civil Surgeon the authorities should understand that it was a prestigious post, which required a lot of dedication, hard work and people friendly behaviour. It would be appreciable if the person was accessible to everyone”, he said.

Meanwhile, Dr Charanjit Singh, SMO, Nawanshahr has recently joined as Assistant Civil Surgeon, Ludhiana. He would be looking after the department work till the formal announcement of the next Civil Surgeon.

— Dr Anil Dheer

Samrala, December 1
A blood donation camp was organised by the Youth Welfare Club of Malwa College, Bondli, on the college campus under the leadership of the club convener, Dr Harinderjit Singh Kler, and Prof Harinder Kaur. More than 50 students donated blood on the occasion.

The chief guest Mr Baldev Singh, SDM, Samrala, inaugurated the camp. He stressed upon the students inculcate the spirit for social work.

The SMO, Samrala, Dr J.P. Singh, also addressed and encouraged the students to come forward for this noble cause. Dr Shashi Kant helped the students to donate the blood and also undertake the post-donation care. The college Principal, Mr Parminder Singh, thanked the Chief guest and students.

SPORTS

HMV Jalandhar win overall trophy in cycling meet
Our Sports Reporter

Winners of the Guru Nanak Dev University Inter-Colleges Cycling Tournament held in Ludhiana on Tuesday. — A Tribune photograph

Ludhiana, December 1
Under the Annual Credit Plan, during the first six months of 2004-2005 loans amounting to Rs 1,168 crore have been disbursed in Ludhiana to the priority sector against a target of Rs 1,136 crore.

This was disclosed by Deputy Commissioner Anurag Verma while presiding over a meeting of the district-level review committee-cum-district credit committee to review the performance of the banks under different schemes at Bachat Bhavan here yesterday.

The Deputy Commissioner said the gross credit in the district stood at Rs 8,404 crore, which was an increase of Rs 340 crore over the previous quarter figure of Rs 8,064 crore and the CD ratio of Ludhiana was 71 per cent.

Appreciating the cooperation of all banks, Mr Verma exhorted them to pay attention to credit for the priority sector during the whole year. He said the district had also performed well in releasing credit to the agriculture sector and till October 31, loans amounting to Rs 523 crore, against a target of Rs 503 crore, had been advanced.

In the agricultural sector, 1,00,783 families had been provided with crop loans and 7,802 with term loans and the banks had rescheduled loan amounting to Rs 2,243 lakh of 2,227 farmers and one-time settlements to recover loans had been settled in the case of 26 small and marginal farmers.

He said the Central government was according top priority to the agriculture sector and had directed an increase of 30 percent in agricultural credit.

The Deputy Commissioner said under the credit to small-scale industries, the district had advanced Rs 355 crore against a target of Rs 327 crore and directed the banks with poor performance to improve their working so that the targets given to them could be met.

He said no bank could retain the cases approved by the district task forces for more than 15 days.

He asked the banks to send their achievement reports to the Lead Bank Officers regularly. He also asked the government agencies to ensure the availability of subsidies before the fixation of targets.

The performance of government development agencies’ schemes was also reviewed. The Deputy Commissioner said that under the Prime Minister Rozgar Yojana (PMRY), 318 cases had been sanctioned and loans had been disbursed to 188 persons. The fish farming agency had sponsored nine cases for loan of Rs 37.24 lakh, out of which loans amounting to Rs 32.58 lakh had been sanctioned in seven cases.

Mr Verma asked the DM of the Punjab Scheduled Caste Land Development and Finance Corporation to get their targets rescheduled from their headquarters as it affected the overall performance of the district. Regarding the Self-Help Groups scheme, Mr Verma asked the bankers to achieve the target of 245 groups. So far only 34 groups had been formed.

Mr Gurmeet Singh, Lead Bank Officer, asked the banks to organise more meetings with farmers to educate them on the new schemes.

Mr C. M. Tripati, AGM, RBI, asked the bankers to strictly follow the guidelines of the central bank in advancing credit and told them not to unnecessarily hold up cases sent by the DIC after providing the required training to the candidate.

Present on the occasion were Mr Sumer Singh Gurjar, ADC, Mr J. S. Garcha, MLA, Mr Harmesh Kumar, DGM, NABARD, and Mr Makhan Singh, Chief Manager, Punjab and Sind Bank.