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Healthcare in peril
Jammu, November 25 In the backdrop of two major constraints the expansion work currently underway may turn out to be white elephants defeating the purpose of providing better healthcare to the common people. It may be stated here that former Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad in a bid to provide better healthcare to the people had embarked upon various ambitious projects worth crores of rupees. If Azad's early exit over Amarnath land dispute followed by two-month long agitation and now model code of conduct hampered these projects then the shortage of doctors, paramedics and other staff besides resources to sustain recurring expenditure raise a million dollar question on the efficacy of these structures, said a senior medico of Government Medical College (GMC) on the condition of anonymity. Unless and until government seriously looks into these two aspects of manpower and resources, Ghulam Nabi Azad's initiative may go down the drain, he added. "Having big buildings without doctors, paramedic and other staff would serve no purpose," he said, adding city hospitals like GMC, SMGS and Gandhi Nagar were working with almost half of the total sanctioned staff. Peeved over the sorry state of affairs in the existing hospitals and the new shiny structures coming up at a cost of nearly
Rs 200 crore in Jammu, another senior doctor bracketed Azad's initiative as
shortsightedness.
Expansion without resources?
Conceived under NDA government's Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojna in 2004, the much-awaited upgradation of GMC on the lines of AIIMS at a cost of Rs 120 crore was started this year. Under this project being executed by the CPWD, the state had to cough up its share of
Rs 20 crore. Similarly, the coalition government had started expansion work of existing emergency block at the GMC at a cost of Rs 9 crore while a four-storied building for outdoor patients stands almost completed at District Hospital Gandhi Nagar at a cost of Rs 10.50 crore. Likewise, expansion work at SMGS Hospital to add 200-bed superspeciality paediatric block at a cost of Rs 20 crore and 40 more beds at Sarwal hospital at a cost of Rs 6.25 crore have been going on. GMC principal Dr Rajinder Singh said a proposal for sanctioning 4,100 posts exclusively for the upgraded GMC and 200-bed superspeciality paediatric block at SMGS Hospital had already been forwarded to the planning department. When asked about recurring expenditure to sustained upgraded GMC and SMGS
Hospital, Dr Singh described it as state government's prerogative.
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Finding a ‘home away from home’
Jammu, November 25 Consequently, they have to go for rented accommodation or paying guest hostels, both provisions which are a costly affair. In addition to it, girl students have a sense of insecurity all time, along with undue restrictions. According to Tsewang Galtson, a student of Jammu University, who hails from Kargil, there are lesser avenues of quality education in their region, which compels them to come to Jammu. He says, “here, rent for accommodation proves a major drain on our pockets and besides, we have to follow restrictions and face rude behaviour of the proprietors.” He says generally the rented out accommodation is not good, but students have to compromise in view of their meagre pocket money. “In a good locality, one gets a single room against Rs 1,500 per month and despite that proper facilities are not given,” he said. “We feel alienated as people here charge as much as they can. They find us gullible,” he said, adding that despite shelling out money as per their demands, they do not get a conducive environment for studies. Disket Angmo, another graduation student, said most of the paying guest hostels charged from Rs 3,000 to 3,500 from each student and three to four girls were accommodated in a single room, while substandard and unhygienic food was served. She further said girl students were always exposed to risk at private accommodation and had to face several hardships on this account. President of the All-Ladakh Student Union, Jammu, Tserin Norphel, said, “for the past over six years we have been listening that a hostel is being constructed for the Ladakhi students, but till date the construction has not been completed.” He added that they visited the hostel’s construction site at Muthi and were shocked over the pace of work. “We doubt whether it would be completed in the next six months,” he said. Claiming that around 3,000 Ladakhi students had been getting education at the school, college and university levels in Jammu, Norphel demanded that work at the site should be geared up, besides, more hostels be constructed as per their needs. Admitting hardships on part of the Ladakhi students, several college and university wardens regretted they had to reject several applications every year due to the lack of space in hostels.
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Literature in exile
Jammu, November 25 Bharat has, by now, authored six books, including” Pheran Mein Chipayen Tiranga'', for which former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has written the foreword. Bharat is not ,in fact, the only poet of post-migration product. During the past 18 years, about 130 books have been written by Kashmiri Pandit writers that depict either their longing to go back to their native land or cursing those bad moments when they had to forcibly leave their homes and hearths back in the valley. Prior to the migration, there were very few writers amongst the community to add to the Kashmiri literature either through prose or poetry, but during the last about two decades, a number of promising poets have emerged, who mainly wrote the literature in exile. The most noticeable feature has been that about a dozen female poets and writers have emerged during the period of exile.Prior to 1990, there were a few Pandit poetesses but now Bimla Raina, Girija Koul, Santosh Nadan, Prabha Raina and Mohini Koul are some to name, who have already books, both in Nastaliq and Devnagri scripts, to their credit. Former Head of Department of Hindi, Kashmir University, Dr Bhushan Lal Koul, who has written the foreword for some of these books, is of the opinion that the migration has definitely left a deep scar on the psyche of Kashmiri writers and poets living in Jammu or elsewhere.”As is reflected from their books, one can draw inference that most of the writers have touched the pain of migration in their poetry or prose.'' says Dr Kaul. Panun Kashmir leader and eminent poet, Dr Agnishekhar, has spoken his heart out in his book ``Mujh Se Cheen Li Gai Meri Nadi". While Maharaj Krishan Santoshi has revealed pain and pathos in his book `` Yeh Samay Kavita Ka Nahin'', Arvind Gigoo has beautifully written `` Ugly Kashmiri". Books written in Kashmiri by Arjan Dev Majboor, P N Shad , M L Kanwal and Brij Hali also hit the stands during all these 18 years of migration. Dr Kaul, however, regrets that some of the books written by migrant Kashmiri writers in their language could not find readers across the Jawahar Tunnel; the reason being that they were written only in the Devnagri script. “A number of efforts were made to also include Devnagri as a script for writing Kashmiri in addition to Nastaliq. But every time we failed to convince certain elements who opposed the same tooth and nail'', laments Dr Kaul.
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Classical music getting a raw deal: Santoor maestro
Jammu, November 25 “The private electronic media is bent upon to blackout the otherwise rich Indian music”, the master of santoor said in a conversation with The Tribune. Pt Shiv Kumar was on a private trip to Jammu that incidentally happens to be his hometown. He regretted that except for Doordarshan, no other TV channels in India were devoting any time for the Indian classical music. “They are all bothered for their TRP ratings and have scant regard for the indigenous music. I really feel distraught the way globalisation is sought to and is being portrayed to play havoc with our aesthetic and traditional values. This ignorance of our rich cultural heritage is being done deliberately even though there is proper scope in a globalised environment to accommodate every nuance of local cultures and sub-cultures, not to speak of the Indian heritage, whether fine arts, literature etc'', the santoor maestro said. He recalled when there was only Doordarshan, a number of programmes based on ‘Raag Desh’ were telecast for the promotion of Indian classical music. “Now, we have scores of television channels that devote time only to beam vulgar advertisements catering to voyeurism”, he said. Pt Shiv Kumar Sharma advised, “Practice classical music religiously and make it a part of your life. It is a panacea for all modern day ills and stresses'' A varied and a much traveled man with an honorary citizenship of the city of Baltimore, Pt Shiv Kumar Sharma, was however, nostalgic of his childhood spent in Jammu and Srinagar. “I am deeply connected with my birthplace. It is my love for Jammu and Kashmir that brings me here”, the recipient of Padma Vibhushan said. The maestro said there were a number of upcoming artists, particularly from Jammu and Kashmir, who elegantly play with the santoor strings. “They will hopefully scale new heights in future'', he said.
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Plagued by problems
Jammu, November 25 When a passenger alights at the railway station, the first problem he comes across is a shortage of coolies. The railways' move to throw open its gate to the recruitment of coolies as gangmen has hit the commuters hard. According to sources, out of 175 coolies, the railways selected 135 for recruitment as gangmen, while most of those left out were in the twilight of their lives. In the absence of coolies, the commuters have no option but to carry their luggage on their own. What adds to their woes is the fact that due to security reasons, no private vehicle, taxi or autorickshaw is allowed up to the entrance point of the railway station complex. The commuters are forced to walk quite a distance and climb scores of stairs with their luggage. "Both of us carried our suitcases while our two kids somehow managed to pull along our remaining luggage as we could not find any coolie here. We didn't anticipate such a problem in a major destination like Jammu, otherwise we would not have brought so much luggage," said a couple from Maharashtra who were to pay obeisance at Vaishno Devi. The station has been struck by armed militants on various occasions in the past. Nine persons were killed in 2001 and six in 2004 during terror strikes at the railway station. After coming out, the commuters, most of whom are either pilgrims or tourists, are fleeced by the autorickshaw drivers who charge them hefty amounts even for short distances. Though there is a pre-paid booth for autos and taxis, it is not easy to locate a person visiting the city for the first time. The same is the case with the Tourism Information Centre. "The authorities should have either put up these facilities at an easy to find location or displayed signboards to make it convenient for the commuters to find them," said Manoj Sharma, a commuter from Lucknow. As far as sanitation is concerned, though the platforms are clean to an extent, the railway station's premises is in total mess. Dirty surroundings, commuters "encroaching" upon footpath meant for pedestrians, and roadside vendors selling unhygienic food is a common sight. When contacted, divisional traffic manager Ashok Sharma said the authorities were aware of the shortage of coolies and their recruitment would take place soon.
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Automation whip on horseshoers
Jammu, November 25 A decade ago around 50 farrier shops used to do brisk business in Jammu city, but now there are only a few. The rest have either changed their trade or have taken up menial jobs to survive. The government has done nothing to ameliorate the condition of this community so far. Mangal Dass Kaith, a blacksmith is no more doing the job of a farrier due to his ill health. However, his two sons Mohinder Kumar and Joginder Kumar are still engaged in this trade. Operating their business from a small shop situated near the Canal Road, they hardly manage to make both ends meet for the joint family of 18, as the business is declining with each passing day. Kaith's other three sons have now switched over to driving auto-rickshaws. "We earn a paltry sum of Rs 100 to 150 each daily while we pay Rs 2,000 as annual rent for the shop to the municipal corporation, which was a meagre Rs 60 in 1995 and Rs 1,600 last year,” rues Mohinder, adding that the skyrocketing prices of essential commodities have worsened their condition. Joginder avers, "I started this work at the age of seven and learnt this art by helping my father. Even a decade ago, our business was so thriving that we would have no time for taking meals. You would see horses and carts all around but now there are hardly one or two. We sit idle for most of the day. Modern transport has dealt a severe blow to our trade." They feel that it is a tough profession with low returns. "It involves high risk of burns and wounds as fixing of a horse shoe is done only after moulding iron to the proper size of the horse's foot by glowing them on fire," they added while showing injury marks on their hands. Expressing anguish over the neglect by the government in rehabilitating them, they demanded a package for switching over to some other business. Their plight could be gauged from the fact that Joginder's son Vishal and Mohinder's son Sandeep want to do some government job and not continue with their traditional trade, as they feel that it has lost sheen and is no more rewarding.
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Militancy hinders mountaineering
Jammu, November 25 However, after the onset of militancy, it had to shift its expeditions to the adjoining state of Himachal Pradesh, which resulted in a rise in expenditure and consequently put an end to its independent expeditions. Affiliated to the Indian Mountaineering Foundation, New Delhi, the association is now facilitating the participation of its members in training camps and expeditions organised by the foundation. Earlier, its members had scaled the Gulap Kangri peak at 19056 feet in 1991 and the following year another Stok Kangri peak at over 20,000 feet, both in the Ladakh region. After the eruption of militancy, the association shifted its activities to Himachal Pradesh and had successfully scaled the technically tough over 19,000-ft high Deo Tibba peak in 1993. Hike in the cost of organising mountaineering expeditions forced it to postpone the next foray to 1996. Unable to meet increased expenditure, its independent expeditions came to a grinding halt from 1998 after it had failed to scale the Hanuman Tibba peak (Himachal Pradesh) the same year. Ram Khajuria, former founder-president of the MA, said even then the state produced a number of quality mountaineers like Ram Singh Slathia, who scaled Everest this year, Harjot Kaur, who represented India in the seventh Asian Youth Climbing Championship in Japan, Sumit Khajuria and Abhishek Sharma, who had successfully climbed several high altitude peaks. Crediting the association with shaping mountaineers in the formative stage, he said it was running basic courses at two places. A 40- feet high artificial climbing wall at M.N.D Public School in R.S Pura and another 28-feet high at Sprawling Buds School in Chinore. Besides, the state climbers have been retaining the top position in the North Zone sports climbing championship for the past four years. He said parents from the Jammu region were hesitant to send their wards to militancy infested Jawahar Institute for Mountaineering at Pahalgam. The institute held basic and advance courses in mountaineering, besides method of instruction and rescue courses.
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Letter
With the transport and traffic authorities in deep slumber, auto-rickshaw drivers ferrying children to the city's schools have thrown all the norms to the wind. Overloaded auto-rickshaws with children hanging out is a common sight in the mornings.
However, no effort seems to have been made to check this illegal practice, which also puts at risk the precious lives of schoolchildren. At the same time, the parents should also ensure that they don't send their wards to the school in auto-rickshaws that are already packed to capacity. It is high time that the authorities as well as the citizens wake up to the problem and put a curb on it before instead of waiting for a tragedy to take place for initiating corrective measures. Mohit Kumar,
Jammu
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