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International Day Against Child Labour
Some Cheer: CII survey paints a rosy picture |
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Private hands to help operate Doon Hospital’s MRI machine
Hygiene goes down the drain
Public conveniences in a mess
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International Day Against Child Labour
Dehradun, June 12 Rakesh runs a small shop in a village near Hardoi. All his efforts to trace his daughter have been in vain. One shudders to think of the fate of the17-year- old girl, as also the fate of hundreds of children who go missing every year. Lost and on their on, most are forced to eke out a living working at dhabas and taking up domestic chores at home of their employers. Some are pushed into beggary or sold as bonded labour. Some children are forced to flee their homes to escape ill-treatment at the hands of step-parents. Escape from home seems the only solution to young impressionable minds. What follows once they take the plunge is even more horrific and chilling. Data provided by the police headquarter shows that till date this year, 31 boys and 14 girls went missing. Only 17 boys and six girls were traced. In 2008, 256 boys and 122 girls went missing. As many as 184 boys and 80 girls were traced while there is no trace of 72 boys and 42 girls. In 2007, 254 boys and 110 girls went missing and 218 boys and 97 girls were traced. In 2006, as many as 300 boys and 101 girls went missing. Of them, 226 boys and 84 girls were traced. As many as 314 boys and 141 girls went missing in 2005. The authorities say there is a lacuna in law that is almost silent on the issue of ‘missing persons’ and that includes children. “New measures need to be introduced. The legislation is archaic and unproductive. “The law empowers us to take action only when there is a criminal aspect to the case. So parents while lodging their complaint usually state that their child has been kidnapped,” said DIG Abhilasha Bisht. Parents lodge a report only when they have failed to locate their child. This may may be after days or weeks. Once a report is lodged, a hunt is launched on the clues provided by family members. If the child remains untraced, the case goes to the police headquarters. “The SI is then put in charge of the case, the profile of the child flashed in the media and in case of success, the child handed over to parents. We have Mahila Helpline and Bal Desk to facilitate reconciliation so that the child is rehabilitated back in the family,” said the DIG. Most cases of missing children are reported from Dehradun, Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar. In Dehradun district, 60 boys and 38 girls went missing in 2008.As many as 24 boys and 17 girls remain untraced. Recently, the police traced three girls who had left home to try their luck in the Hindi film industry. Police records show few incidents of missing children in districts of Champawat, Bageshwar and Chamoli. Social activists claim that the number of children missing, particularly boys, from the hills is much larger. "In most young boys are driven away by poverty and hard work in the hills. They often run away to metropolitan cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Dehradun to work in dhabas and restaurants, but their families do not report the matter to the police, hoping that they would return some day,” said Gyan Singh Rawat, secretary, Shri Bhuwneshwari Mahila Ashram, an NGO. The organisation during a survey on child labour in Uttarkashi and Pauri Garhwal found that most children employed at dhabas had fled their homes as thir parents had several mouths to feed. But their parents had not lodged any complaint “We actually began by undertaking a survey of number of children engaged in labour in Bhatwari and Dunda blocks of Uttarkashi.We found that 18 children were working at dhabas while 324 were employed for domestic chores in homes of well-to-do families. Most had run away from home. They were unwilling to go back for fear of maladjustment with the family,” said Rawat. The organisation says there is no child welfare committees in the state to monitor the situation. “Even if the Children Welfare Board has been created, it is not active. It has no rehabilitation plan for children. It has nothing to offer to meet the psychological needs of these kids once they are rescued and sent home,” said Aditi Kaur, president, Mountain Children’s Foundation, an NGO.
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Some Cheer: CII survey paints a rosy picture
Dehradun, June 12 The survey is based on 132 responses received from industry across Uttarakhand, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Chandigarh. More than 70 per cent respondents expected the GDP growth to be in the range of 5-7 per cent. As against 48.5 per cent respondents expecting this growth to be less than 7 per cent during first two quarters of 2008-09 survey, this time, 86 per cent respondents have expected growth of less than 7 per cent. This indicates a growing convergence towards the view that the Indian economy will witness some
moderation in growth rates in the wake of the global slowdown. The survey also looked into the expectations on various elements - investments, capacity utilisation, sales, availability and cost of credit etc. The results are encouraging with positive expectations across the spectrum as 33 per cent of the respondents expect an increase in investments during the current six months. The respondents expected a capacity utilisation of greater than 75 per cent in the past six months. More than 62 per cent respondents expected an increase
in sales. The average score of responses revealed that slackening consumer demand followed by global economic instability as the two most important concern areas followed by currency risks and high interest rates. The clear priorities that these scores throw up for government action included importance of fiscal measures to stimulate demand, bringing down interest rates and to ensure a stable rupee.
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Private hands to help operate Doon Hospital’s MRI machine
Dehradun, June 12 For the past two years the machine remained locked at the Doon Hospital while the state health department launched a search for private partners who could run it on public private mode. “After the official inauguration of the machine, it will be open to the public. Patients with BPL cards will get free treatment while APL patients will have to pay Rs 3,500 per case,” said Dr RK Pant CMS Doon Hospital. The non-invasive medical test helps physicians diagnose chest, abdomen, pelvis region and breasts, uterus related cancers and other diseases effectively. Unlike the X-ray machine that uses ionising radiation, MRI uses powerful magnetic field radio frequency pulses and a computer that produces detailed pictures of organs, soft tissues and bones under controlled conditions. As per the terms of the agreement, the company will be able to pocket the revenue (user charges) earned after the OPD hours from 2 pm onwards till the next day. “However, the company would have to share 34 per cent of the revenue earned which would go to the kitty of the hospital. The managing committee headed by the CMS has been constituted to oversee the functioning of the MRI,” said
Dr Sudhanshu Bahuguna, additional director DG health and family welfare. The committee has been empowered to look into the functioning of the MRI and also ensure that the machine is kept up to date by carrying out maintenance under the stipulated time period. For the moment the machine costing
Rs 7 crores is under the warranty period. The state health authorities were forced to go for public private partnership (PPP) mode after its efforts to train own staff didn’t go well. “This is a specialised field that requires to be upgraded constantly. “The training that we got earlier was of little use as the authorities took so much time to install the unit, we could not put to practice what we had learnt,” said Dr PC Kapri, senior radiologist, Doon Hospital. Besides, the state is already facing acute shortage of manpower. For running the complete MRI unit a minimum of 10 staff members are required,
comprising of radiologist, technician, nurse and a ward boy. Several precautions have to be undertaken while undertaking MRI scanning. “ At least two staff members are needed for undertaking
screening of patients before they are subjected to MRI,” said Dr Kapri.
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Hygiene goes down the drain
Roorkee, June 12 The main affected areas include old localities like Ramnagar, Chanderpuri, Nai Mandi, Gulab Nagar, Islam Nagar, Purani Tehsil, Bharat Nagar, Maqtoolpuri, Azad Nagar and Ganeshpur. “It is difficult to walk on the roads. So, one can well imagine the plight of the people living in such conditions here,” said Saleem Ahmad, a resident of Bharat Nagar. “The conventional drainage system is very old and now there is manifold increase in population with the extension of the localities, but the authorities are least bothered to improve the facilities,” said another resident Rajesh Saini. Water overflows from the open drains as these are not very deep and the situation becomes worse during the monsoon. Taking a dig at the authorities, the residents maintain that they have approached the authorities concerned several times but in vain. Last week, Congress leaders started an agitation against the government apathy regarding the problems of the residents. Chairman of the municipal board, Pradeep Batra, said a proposal for enhancing the capacity of these open drains had been submitted to the government. He also said that Rs 3.5 crore was demanded in January this year but the funds were yet to be cleared by the authorities concerned.
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Public conveniences in a mess
Dehradun, June 12 Residents feel the absence of adequate number of public toilets in the city and wherever these are located they lack facilities and hygiene. Most of the public toilets are in an awful state but the people are forced in case of urgency to take refuge in these stinking, dirty toilets usually with a handkerchief on their nose. Although, the municipal officials claim that proper sanitation facilities are ensured as the sweeper cleans the toilets 5-6 times in a day. Yet in reality as pointed out by Bina Duseja, a boutique owner, operating adjacent to a public toilet in Dilaram bazaar, the condition portrays a different outlook. She said, “Very often there aren’t jugs and buckets in the washroom. And when there are, there isn’t any water supply.” Priyanka, a local said, “They charge us with Rs 2 when it is supposed to be a free facility. Despite this, the toilets lack the adequacy of water supply.” Nidhi, a student comments on the lack of proper sanitation facilities at a public toilet near the Clock Tower said, “The toilets are dirty and are afflicted with the major infrastructure problems. The government is to be blamed for this issue.” While on the other hand, Nikita, an environment student said, “Both, the municipal corporation and the people are at fault. I don’t really know how many toilet cleaners have been employed but they are evidently, not doing an appreciable job.” She further questions, “Also, if people don’t flush after they are done, how can you expect the toilets to stay clean.” Jenn, a tourist points out at the lack of the public toilets in Paltan Bazaar. Lubna, a cosmetic shop owner in the market comments, “In the case of an emergency, we have to rush all the way to the public toilet adjacent to the Clock Tower which is inconvenient.” The roadside urinals and public toilets mark a show of disgrace in the city with an evident lack of sanitation facilities. The problem needs to be addressed with a partnership between the public authorities and citizen based organisations, a highly successful method in the metros.
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The magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine would soon become operational at the Doon Hospital after a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed between the state government and a Delhi-based private company Mahajan Imaging.