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OPD boycott: Docs administer bitter pill
DMC plans to change city face in 2010
Flashback 2009
Wildlife |
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NIVH
Health Care
Doon Star enter final
CAU register 10-wkt victory
Easy win for DRCA
TCA down LMCC
Contractors’ payment withheld
Camp for holistic development of students ends
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OPD boycott: Docs administer bitter pill
Dehradun, December 31 What has been a bone of contention between doctors and the government is a long list of demands that has not been addressed completely. As a mark of protest, the OPDs today were sans doctors and only skeletal emergency services were functioning. Medical officers owing allegiance to the Provincial Medical and Health Services Association gathered in the morning at the Doon Hospital and raised slogans against the government. Though emergency services at all primary health centres (PHCs) and district hospitals continued to function, the one-day OPD boycott left several patients high and dry who had come from far-off places. Dr DP Joshi, Secretary of the association, said the state government’s step-motherly treatment was detrimental to the interest of the doctors who worked under adverse conditions providing health care in the state with negligible career opportunities. “There is an acute shortage of doctors. Of the stipulated cadre of 2,000 doctors, only 500 are working in the state. The government does not even know how to keep this small number satisfied,” said Dr Joshi. The state government is implementing the Sixth Pay Commission’s recommendations, but is not ready to reconstitute new pay bands. “The present struggle is not only about our main demands, but addresses a wider issue that of encouraging more people to join the medical services which can only be done if doctors’ interests are looked after,” stressed Dr VS Tolia, Deputy CMO, Doon Hospital. Earlier, Principal Secretary, Health, Keshav Desi Raju had, in principle, agreed to their main demand of implementation of the Dynamic Assured Career Progression scheme (DACP) that is being implemented in Uttar Pradesh and other states. But till date, it has not been implemented. Criticising the government’s timescale promotion policy, Dr SD Joshi, President of the association, said the state government doctors should be compensated by time-bound promotion as it was being done for the central government employees who benefit under the DACP. “We are demanding inclusion of non-performing allowance (NPA) that is 25 per cent of basic pay as a huge difference exists between our salaries and that of doctors working in other states. If the anomaly in the pay structure is removed, there will be better working health infrastructure with no shortage of doctors in the state,” he emphasised. Dr Ajeet Gairola, Senior Medical Officer, Doon Hospital, said the implementation of the DACP was a must to avoid stagnation as promotion avenues for doctors were negligible after the abolition of time-bound scales and acceptance of Samta Committee recommendations given in 1988 when the state was part of Uttar Pradesh. “We are only getting 21 per cent NPA of grade pay and the Tiku Committee recommendations have not been implemented. No promotion has been given to class I medical officers who have been working for the past 25-30 years. The recommendations have been followed only while promoting directors,” he said. The dissatisfaction among doctors has been out in the open from time to time. They have also threatened to launch a stir in January if their demands are not met.
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DMC plans to change city face in 2010
Dehradun, December 31 Mayor Vinod Chamoli seems to be quite serious about the schemes. He is to discuss these schemes with Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Urban Development Minister Madan Kaushik, the Chief Secretary, Principal Secretary (City Development), Commissioner (Garhwal), Secretary (Tourism), Secretary (PWD0, Secretary (Drinking Water), District Magistrate, Vice-Chancellor of MDDA, SSP (Traffic) and the Mukhya Nagar Adhikari on January 2. He gives utmost priority to streamlining traffic regulation, plantation and beautification, developing periphery town on the NCR (National Capital Region) pattern and completing a drainage plan costing Rs 200 crore and sewerage plan costing Rs 55 crore under JNNRUM. Shifting slums to small tenements and introducing solar systems in towns would be his other projects. Elucidating more about these projects, Chamoli says: “Traffic has emerged as the biggest problem of the city. From three lakh population as per census done in 1998, it has increased to 12 lakh in the current year. We can not expand the area but can certainly plan ways to streamline the traffic. For this, we are widening up 30 roundabouts and three subways. We are also working on developing Parade Ground as the main traffic centre of the city which will filter traffic in various directions. The bus stand has already been shifted from the vicinity of Parade Ground. Now, we will shift Tibet market to another place. The area would be widened up. The purpose would be to divert traffic from small place like Ghanta Ghar toward the Parade Ground.” The traffic that comes from all over the city get stuck in small areas like Ghanta Ghar whereas the Parade Ground, having scope for movement of heavy traffic and a smooth flow of vehicles around it, is not being used much. The corporation is aiming at filtering traffic from this region only in next year. “From here, people can take various roads which lead to all directions in the city. It is only people, who come from Rajpur Road and want to go to Ghanta Ghar or Paltan Bazar, can use the Ghanta Ghar chowk. It will be made one way to prevent loading of traffic on this road. For this purpose, we will have to remove the trees, which obstruct the expansion, but an area would be demarcated for plantation and beautification around it. In this project, the PWD and the MDDA will coordinate with the
DMC,” he said. He also said the area around it, including Hindi Bhawan, would be renovated. Beside, plantation and beautification will be done on Chakrota Road, Saharnpur Road after widening them. Under a solar plan, he says, Dehradun has been chosen among 12 cities of the country where solar lights would be installed at important government and public places. Such solar lights are already functional on roads, Vidhan Sabha, Secretariat. For this task, the corporation will tie up with a private sector company. As the city is too small to accommodate onslaught of increasing population and various development projects for being capital of the state, Chamoli plans to develop it on the pattern of the NCR. He said: “The way
Gurgaon, Noida and Ghaziabad have been developed as an NCR to accommodate the expanding population of Delhi, we, too, can do so by developing
Vikasnagar, Haridwar, Rishikesh, Mussoorie as NCR towns by building good infrastructure and connecting these with the development of Dehradun through metro or mini train. It is better to do so now than moving in a haphazard manner. We will realise the need to do so after 10 or 20 years as the city has very limited scope for expansion. I am going to put this project before the Chief Minister.” The project will cost Rs 15,000 core where Rs 9,600 crore will be spent in the first phase. Chamoli also said he was working out a drainage plan with the Jal Nigam. The DPR of Rs 209 crore for this project has been approved by the board and sent to the Centre for funding. He said: “Dehradun, which has been built on rivers in a slanting manner, is always vulnerable to flooding, which can clog the drainage system any time. It is important to have a sound drainage system to save the city from submerging in floods in near future.” Chamoli also talked about a Marshall plan for sewerage, costing Rs 55
crore, under JNNRUM. “A sewerage plant costing Rs 100 crore will be installed in the city. Then Asian Development Bank will contribute Rs 5 crore for the treatment plan which will be ready by 2010.” He said he was working out details on the projects. For 186 slums, which have mushroomed all over the city, he said these should be shifted in one-room flats, a project to begin in 2010.
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Aspirations of Kumaon not met
Rajeev Khanna Tribune News Service
Nainital, December 31 For people of the region, the year had begun with the news of the Nano plant, which finally headed towards Gujarat. People felt that had the state government headed by BC Khanduri made some “sincere” efforts in the direction, it could have easily come to the Pantnagar facility of the Tata Motors. They are of the opinion that since Nano is being manufactured here even now, the full-fledged production unit was not only viable, but would also have led to the rapid industrialisation of the region marked by setting up of the ancillary units. With Garhwal University being given the status of a central university, people of the region once again felt being let down by the political class. They felt that Khanduri and his government had favoured Garhwal University over Kumaon University. They held all parties responsible for this. It was during the Chief Ministership of Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna that both Garhwal and Kumaon universities had been sanctioned in 1973 to cater to the needs of the regions of the two districts of this backward part of the country. Thereafter, both these universities have been treated at par by various governments of erstwhile Uttar Pradesh and now Uttarakhand. However, when it came to giving a central university status, it was Garhwal University in Srinagar that was granted the benefit. These two issues were the main reasons, besides other factors, that led to people voting against the ruling party candidates in the Lok Sabha elections. Sitting party president and former union minister Bacchi Singh Rawat, along with state cabinet minister Ajay Tamta, had to bite the dust for not rising to the aspirations of the people. The region again felt let down by the BJP’s central leadership when the latter decided to have a successor to Khanduri from the Garhwal region. The central leadership went in favour of Dr Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank over state cabinet minister Prakash Pant and Khanduri’s bęte noire and former Chief Minister Bhagat Singh Koshiyari. The party, however, decided to do a ropewalk by having the party president from Kumaon once again. The region also witnessed a series of agitations on issues of public welfare. People of the region continue to feel that they are being let down time and again by the government. There has been a persistent demand for rail connectivity on the Bageshwar-Tanakpur section and residents even sat on a protest in the national Capital. The issue of re-starting mining on the banks of the Gaula river continues to hang fire with thousands of people being rendered unemployed on account of the delay in granting of the permission. The region also witnessed a major failure on the part of the law enforcing agencies. The Kaladhungi incident of August proved how ill-equipped the police force was in tackling mob fury. An irate mob had not only beaten up police personnel and burnt a police station, but also had gone ahead to throw a police personnel into the inferno. The inability of the police in solving the seven-year-old Mahima’s murder case of Ramnagar is also a pointer in this direction. The region also witnessed a major tragedy in the form of the massive landslide in the Nachni area of Pitthoragarh in which scores died. The incident pointed to the unlearnt lessons from the decade old Malpa tragedy. In the new year, the region is looking forward for establishment of an Indian Institute of Management in the foothills besides other institutes. It is also looking towards more focused development that is people centric and not something that exists only in the bureaucratic files of the state administration.
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Leopard poaching all-time high
Jotirmay Thapliyal Tribune News Service
Dehradun, December 31 According to sources in the Wildlife Protection Society of India, this figure could be higher as many cases of skin seizures might have gone unreported. Some of the major hauls of leopard skin seized during the year include the recent seizure made on December 21 in which five skins were seized from two persons, hailing from the Uttarakashi region, in Haridwar. The Haridwar region will be hosting the Maha Kumbh in mid-January. On November 17, two youths were arrested by the Moradabad police from the forest areas in Pitthoragarh with two leopard skins. The incident had forced the forest authorities in Kumaon to sound a high alert in the forest areas bordering Pitthoragarh. On July 26, in another major haul, three leopard skins and a vehicle were seized by the forest authorities in a hotel at Birhi, near Chamoli, under Badrinath Forest Division. While one person was arrested, three others managed to flee. The leopards, whose skins were seized, were killed in the Nijmullah valley. Earlier in May, a youth, was nabbed with two skins of leopard in the Timili Thana area in the Champawat district of Uttarakhand. Acting on a tip-off, the local police had confronted two youths from Lata village. However, one managed to escape and the police could only apprehend Barkum resident Sheeshram. On search, two skins of leopard were recovered from his possession. Similarly in March, an STF team of the Uttarakhand police nabbed three poachers and seized two leopard skins from their possession. According to police sources, the STF team, under the Vasant Vihar police station, Dehradun, had apprehended Ranjit Singh, alias Ranjeet Gusain, a resident of Panee Kunjasoo tehsil at Pokhri in Chamoli district, and seized two skins of leopard from him. While one of the skins was as long as six-and-a-half feet, the other was four-and-a-half feet in length. According to Rajendra Aggarwal of the Wildlife Protection Society of India, the seizure of 30 leopard skins from Uttarakhand within a year was certain a matter of concern. “It certainly shows a rising trend in poaching of leopard in the state. There could be more leopard deaths in the state as many such incidents go unaccounted for,” Aggarwal added. Interestingly, the leopard population after completion of 2008 census stood at 2,343. It was 2,105 in 2005, thereby registering an increase of 238 leopards, an 11 per cent increase within a span of two years. While the population of wildcat has increased, their poaching, too, has risen comparatively. This apart from shooting of 15 leopards, which turned man eaters, and 20 others that died in various incidents.
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Many goals in sight for 2010
Neena Sharma Tribune News Service
Dehradun, December 31 In a study conducted by the institute, it was found that the country has the capacity to produce only 6.19 crore Braille pages per year while the demand is over 27 crore pages of Braille per year. There are a total of 28 lakh visually impaired persons in the country. To this end, the focus of the NIVH has been on strengthening Braille printing presses in the country and deployment of modern technology at Regional Press, Chennai. The setting up of new units at the centres in Assam and Meghalaya continue to be high on priority. Besides the focus on printing presses, the institute also announced the launch of its first community FM radio service from Dehradun that is expected to hit the airwaves in March and will be available on 91.2 MHz frequency. It will be supported with courses in jockeying. The institute has also developed Braille notational music code and advanced mathematics code paving the way for students to take up undergraduate courses with ease. “The work on the mathematics code began in 1988 by in-house instructors. Now, we have been able to develop a code in science and mathematics. Not only that, Braille notation music has been developed for Carnatic music. All these efforts are aimed at providing equal opportunities to the visually impaired,” said Anuradha Mohit, Director, NIVH. Looking to the future, the major focus of the institute will be on inclusive education where the sighted and non-sighted can co-exist and learn from each other’s experiences. The emphasis in 2010 will be on special education and disability studies. The NIVH is expected to start a two-year masters course (MEd regular stream) in special education and also offer the same course through distance education in collaboration with the Indira Gandhi National Open University in 2010-11. “We will also be starting the country’s first training programme (diploma course) in early childhood education with emphasis on all-round development of visually impaired infants, toddlers and preschoolers. The diploma holders will be an asset in starting early intervention services for blind children in special schools and regular schools,” said Anuradha Mohit.
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Manpower crunch remains a problem
Neena Sharma Tribune News Service
Dehradun, December 31 Along with H1N1, even cases of dengue and of fever and vomiting were also reported from Rudraprayag, Pauri and Kotdwar, with the state authorities remaining clueless to its origin. It was a year when the state government officially began work on the ambitious project of converting the Doon Hospital into a medical college for which availability of land continues to pose a problem, even the team members of the Medical Council of India too, while on an inspection visit, asked the state government to produce complete property papers of the hospital that have been lost. The government also signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Heart Institute, New Delhi, Jan Jagran Samiti, Dina Hospital (an NGO), Almora, on a public-private partnership for an ultra-modern heart facility unit will come up in three years’ time at Base Hospital, a boon to patients suffering from rheumatoid heart disease. However, there was no respite from the manpower crunch as the state authorities continued to hold interviews for filling up vacant positions. It’s efforts to deploy contractual staff in the remote areas came unstuck when the RTI challenged the appointment as the most of the selected candidates managed to get themselves posted in the plain areas. There is a shortage 978 medical officers, 69 senior grade medical officers and 44 senior grade officers, among others.
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Doon Star enter final
Dehradun, December 31 They gave many wrong passes and their control over the ball was poor. Taking advantage of this, the Doon Star team scored their first goal in the 28th minute of the match. It was Yountin for the Doon Star team who scored a brilliant pass from the right. After receiving the first jolt, the Garhwal Boys team tried to coordinate well and played more sensibly. They created some sharp opportunities to score an equaliser. But it was a good goalkeeping skill demonstrated by Doon Star team goalkeeper that resisted them to the much-needed goal. Meanwhile, in the second half, both teams created some sharp chances to score. Willing to find an equaliser in the match, Garhwal Boys came up with a better strategy. They came close on scoring in the 10th minute of the second half, but its forward failed to put cross a foot to the right, thereby missing out a golden opportunity to score. Just on the closing of the match there was another chance for the Garhwal Boys team to scored a goal when they were awarded a penalty. But to their sheer hard luck, its striker failed to convert it into a gaol. Thus, in the end it was Doon Star that sailed to the final of the tournament.
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CAU register 10-wkt victory
Dehradun, December 31
Mansi scored 11 runs off 13 balls and Monika made nine runs. Lower order player Maya scored 10 runs, all rest of the players went for duck. For CAU girls, Prachi was the lead wicket taker with two runs in her four overs spell. Rashmi Negi, Sapna and Roshani took one wicket each. The CAU team achieved the target of 60 runs with 10 wickets in hand. Opener Anita was the highest scorer for the team with 32 runs off 22 balls, hitting six fours in her innings. Another opener Kusum scored 12 runs off 18 balls. For the MKP team, none of their bowlers performed well, as a result the CAU team reached the target in six overs.
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Easy win for DRCA
Dehradun, December 31 Zeeshan supported him well on the other end to make 60 runs off 39 balls hitting eight boundaries. Lower order batsman Mahshin scored 42 runs off 37 balls. Everwin team’s bowlers failed to stop DRCA’s batsmen from piling a big total. Akshay took two wickets, whereas Sumit, Rohit, Lovey, Suchit and Jagpreet took one wicket each. Chasing the total of 283 runs, the Everwin team managed to scored only 180 runs. Opener Sumit failed completely and scored four runs, whereas Rohit scored 13 runs. First down batsman Rishabh played a useful innings of 63 runs off 48 balls hitting nine boundaries in his innings. Lower order batsman Puneet scored 57 runs off 27 balls hitting four boundaries and five sixes in his innings. For the DRCA team, Birender took four wickets and Sanjeev took three wickets.
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TCA down LMCC
Dehradun, December 31 Himanshu made 14 runs. Anshuman made 11 runs. For the LMCC team, Amit took two wickets in six overs, while Ommi, Arjun, Angad and Rahul took one wicket each. Chasing the target of 158 runs, the LMCC team was all-out for 132 runs. Openers of the team gave a good start. Shubham made 37 runs and Amit scored 29 runs off 26 balls. First down batsman Manish scored 24 runs off 13 balls. For the TCA team, Pritam took three wickets and Gaurav took two wickets.
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Contractors’ payment withheld
Nainital, December 31 Addressing the top brass of the PWD and
other departments at a divisional review meeting held at Bhimtal on Wednesday, Raju asked for an early execution of developmental works undertaken by them for the current financial year. He said the departments that had registered a slow pace of work till December must go in for a special execution drive in the first month of the next calendar year to achieve their targets. The Commissioner also expressed concern over the delay in construction works pertaining to the Health Department on the account of the shortage of engineering staff. He asked the Director (Health) to ensure that all districts in the region had an adequate staff and that the works should not suffer. Addressing the officials present at the meeting, Raju asked them to solve the problems of the people on priority basis. He said the purpose of such divisional-level meetings was to take up issues that could not be resolved at the district level. A delegation of the retrenched employees of Uttara Pradesh Digital Limited at Bhawali met the Commissioner and conveyed the concerns of the employees that are yet to be rehabilitated elsewhere. The Commissioner asked the General Manager of the Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam to make an instant proposal to solve the matter.
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Camp for holistic development of students ends
Dehradun, December 31 Under the yojna every year a few students from the inter college are selected so that they get to experience a more disciplined and planned life. “As per the norms of the yojna, every year students are taught core values, which make them humble and generous human beings. For the past seven days, students were putting up with me and trying to imbibe and execute these values,” said Prem Lata Bhodia, programme officer of the camp. From cooking, conducting activities for community welfare and living together in harmony, the girls voiced their opinion on creating awareness on AIDS and cleanliness. “Students also conducted a street play and helped people living in slums so that their get a closer picture of real life and become more sensitive and understanding in nature,” added Prem Lata. Keeping the spirits high, the students presented a colourful dance on folk numbers. The chief guest for the occasion was MLA Ganesh Joshi, who appreciated the efforts of the students and teachers.
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Dehradun, December 31
Dehradun, December 31
Dehradun, December 31
Dehradun, December 31
