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Proposed Bill on medicare upsets IMA
2 Punjabi youths found dead in Vienna
Badal for coordination between ruling, Oppn whips
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Kaypee may no longer be stop-gap leader
SAD councillors split over Mayor’s removal
Unbundling of PSEB
Attariwala’s samadhi to get facelift
Swaminathan exhorts farmers to work harder
Biometric attendance system fails at health centres
Unemployed to get vocational training
Citrus diversification low on priority
Chauhan’s name off black list
Fiscal crunch hits mission hospital
Tax men raid steel units
AYUSH Director divested of admn powers
Case against Bibi Jagir Kaur dismissed
21 years on, no reply filed in promotion case
NRI’s plea against ‘corrupt’ sants
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Proposed Bill on medicare upsets IMA
Chandigarh, February 10 However, there is a virtual panic among the medical fraternity over the move and the Indian Medial Association (IMA) Punjab chapter President, Dr RS Parmar, has taken a note of this at the state council meeting of the IMA held here last Sunday. In a statement, Dr Parmar has said, “The Clinical Establishment (Regularisation and Registration) Bill was being introduced to improve the standard of medicare at the national level, which is a retrograde step in addition to being discriminatory, is also totally devoid of logic and drafted without understanding the ground realities.” Being drafted on the pattern of the National Health Bill and the Clinical Establishments Bill 2010, this legislation, already discussed by the state Cabinet, will pave the way to form stricter vigil, putting private hospitals, nursing homes and clinics under the District Civil Surgeon’s office, giving the Civil Surgeon power to inspect any hospital regarding minimum facilities being provided and ensuring that only trained staff is employed. Once in place, health care providers will become more accountable and answerable to the patients. Besides, it is also looking at areas like a patient’s right to free emergency treatment, referral rights at the cost of establishment, right to compensation if dignity of a patient is hurt, right to medical records, right to redressel to injustice, etc. Patients will be able to ask their doctor for personal records of treatment for up to three years and the doctor will have to supply them within 72 hours of a request made by the patient. Some senior doctors admit in private that this will help improve medical treatment in small set-ups. Dr Parmar has further said, “If the government hospitals cannot meet the standard of the Bill it is going to introduce, its application to private hospitals will be unjustified.” Last month, a similar Bill called the Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Bill, 2010, was approved by the Union Cabinet, paving the way for bringing clinics nationwide under a single legislation to ensure better facilities and better availability of health service. The Bill is expected to be introduced in the Budget session of Parliament, beginning February 22. Since health is a state subject, most states will have the option to adopt the central legislation or enact their own law on the subject.
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2 Punjabi youths found dead in Vienna
Dhilwan (Kapurthala), February 10 A pall of gloom descended on Dhilwan when their parents got information of the death of their sons in the prime of their youth. Navjeet’s father Jasbir Singh told The Tribune he had got a call from one of his son’s friends settled in Vienna about their deaths at 4 am (IST) on Tuesday. It is learnt that both Navjeet and Ravinder were residing in the same room and were working as pizza delivery men in a restaurant in Vienna. Earlier members of the families of Navjeet and Ravinder could not believe that both of them were dead. Later Jasbir Singh and his wife Ramesh Rani contacted some of their acquaintances Jasbir said they also talked to police officials of Vienna. The latter confirmed about their deaths but were unable to tell the exact cause of their deaths. They merely said when they went to their room after getting the information, their room was filled with some gas and they were lying unconscious. They were declared dead on being taken to a hospital, the police personnel told them, adding that the matter was being probed. Navjeet’s father did not rule out the possibility of foul play behind their deaths. While Navjeet went to Vienna about two years back, Ravinder had gone there over four years ago. Both were unmarried. Jasbir Singh said he and Ravinder’s family members were trying to bring their bodies to India as early as possible for the last rites. Navjeet’s younger brother Parvesh had gone to Austrilia over a year ago.
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Badal for coordination between ruling, Oppn whips
Chandigarh, February 10 A whip has to have strong legal and political understanding besides training in psychology to understand needs and compulsions of members of legislature as well as Parliament. Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy at Mussorie and Institutes of Public Administration in different states can be used for holding such workshops and orientation programmes. These are some issues highlighted at the opening session of the 15th All-India Whips Conference here this morning. Organised by the Union Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and hosted by the Punjab government, the two-day conference has attracted Chief Whips, Whips and other senior leaders of various political parties to deliberate on the duration and sittings of Parliament and state assemblies besides redefining the role of whips in enriching the level of debate in assemblies and Parliament. Interestingly, neither the Chief Whip of SAD Legislature Party nor of the main Opposition Congress party attended the inaugural session. Punjab Governor Shivraj Patil, who inaugurated the conference, talked about the powerful role whips have to play since era of coalition politics has dawned on the country. He said whips are like radars that guide the ships through choppy water of legislative activities. Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal stressed the need for coordination and understanding between whips of the ruling and Opposition parties.
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Kaypee may no longer be stop-gap leader
Chandigarh, February 10 Kaypee, MP from Jalandhar and one of the tallest Dalit leaders of the state, is at present sitting pretty after having conducted a record membership drive. The membership drive has seen more than 32 lakh persons being enrolled in the party. Neighbouring Haryana has seen just five lakh members being enrolled recently. During the last membership drive in Punjab, the party was able to enroll 14.85 lakh new members. The membership drive in Punjab is significant as this time around it is compulsory for all membership applications to be accompanied with photographs of the new members. The drive probably succeeded because the Pradesh Congress president was able to instill competition among the major groups in the state Congress. Both groups of former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh as well as that of CLP leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal and other senior leaders took an active interest in the membership drive to ensure their men were given due representation in the new Pradesh Congress set- up. The drive also got a good response in both the rural and urban areas. While there is a clear divide in the rural areas, the party has been able to attract more Dalit and backward class members due to the image projected by Kaypee. The party has also made a virtual comeback in the urban areas, the poor showing in which had led to its rout in the last Assembly elections. There is a growing feeling in the party that it is the Scheduled Castes and backward vote coupled with the urban vote that could be the party’s winning card in the next Assembly elections. Even though senior Congress leaders claim there may not be any election to the post of Pradesh Congress president, elections will take place at the block level for which there is enthusiasm following the successful conduct of the state Youth Congress elections earlier. Elections to block committees will be held from May 15 to 31 that will be followed by elections to the district committees from June 7 to 27. Elections to the post of PPCC president and its executive committee will be held from July 5 to 25.
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SAD councillors split over Mayor’s removal
Patiala, February 10 Since previous attempts of Ajit’s detractors for his removal yielded no results, this time Mayor’s opponents decided not to reveal their strategy to the media. But, sources said a fresh campaign against Ajit had been initiated. Presently, in the 50-member house, there are 36 Akali councillors, of which, one group support Mayor Ajit Pal Singh Kohli, whereas the other belongs to Sihan Lal Jalota, a municipal councillor. Since Kohli was given the plum post of Mayor in September, 2007, the Jalota group had been making efforts to dislodge Kohli. In September, 2009, about 26 SAD councillors had revolted against Kohli. Seeking his immediate removal, the dissident Akali councillors had announced to launch a peaceful march. Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had managed to pacify the dissidents four months back by assuring to form a panel to look into the matter. But Kohli’s detractors had now again initiated a campaign seeking his removal. Sources said the rival group had expressed its displeasure over the “self-style” functioning of the Mayor. The main issue is that since Kohli had taken over the reins of the Patiala MC, he had been mired in controversies only. The councillors told Akali leaders that illegal constructions and violation of building by-laws had increased manifold after Kohli became the Mayor. Meanwhile, on account of the factionalism among the Akali councillors, the development work is suffering. “The Jacob Drain, meant for discharging rain water has not been cleansed for the past two years. The condition of city roads has worsened. Basically, Akali councillors have no time for the development works as they are busy in the intra-party tussle,” Congress councillor Niranjan Dass said.
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Unbundling of PSEB Tribune News Service
Patiala, February 10 According to the protesting employees, the strike got a good response and the PSEB employees in large numbers stayed away from their duties. Because of the strike, the cash counters and the complaint centres in the PSEB offices in Punjab wore a deserted look. Speaking to The Tribune, senior leaders of the PSEB Employees Joint Forum Surinder Singh Pehalwan and Pal Singh said the strike was successful in Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Gurdaspur, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Ludhiana, Sangrur, Nawanshehar, Ropar, Bathinda, Muktsar, Faridkot, Khanna and Mohali. “The employees stationed at the Ropar, Bathinda and Lehra Mohabbat thermal plants and Shahpur Kandi, Ganguwala, Anandpur Sahib, UBDC Pathankot hydel projects also participated in the protests against the ‘anti-employees’ policies of the state government,” they added.
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Attariwala’s samadhi to get facelift
Attari, February 10 This was stated by state Information and Public Relations Minister Sewa Singh Sekhwan while addressing a gathering at a state-level commemorative function held on Attariwala’s 164th martyrdom day here today. “The state government is doing its all out efforts to beautify the Attariwala’s samadhi and work is in full swing,” said Sekhwan. On behalf of the state government, he assured that adequate funds would be provided to pursue the restoration and conservation work of the historic place. Paying tributes to the great warrior, Sekhwan said the Sikh history was studded with glorious sagas of valiance of warriors and freedom fighters, who made unparallelled sacrifices for the country. Earlier, Sekhwan, along with MP Rajmohinder Majitha; zila parishad chairman Rajinder Kumar Jayntipur; zila parishad vice-chairman Gurwinderpal Singh Ranike, ADC Paramjit Singh, Deputy Director, Sainik Welfare, Col JD Bhullar (retd.), and chairman of the Sardar Sham Singh Attariwala Trust Col Kuldip Singh (retd) laid wreaths on the statue of Sham Singh Attariwala at Nariangarh Chowk. A contingent of the Punjab Police reversed the arms and paid tributes to the great warrior. The Trust Chairman hailed the initiative of the state towards organising a memorable state-level function.
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Swaminathan exhorts farmers to work harder
Ludhiana, February 10 Exhorting farmers and scientists to work harder, Swaminathan said: “There is no time to relax. State farmers must redouble their efforts to increase food production by increasing productivity in perpetuity without associated ecological harm.” He said farmers in Punjab, Haryana and UP, the heartland of green revolution, were in deep economic crises. “No wonder, over 40 per cent of the farmers surveyed by the NSSO wish to quit farming, if there is another option,” he maintained. He said change in climate was posing a serious threat to food production. To become a food-efficient country, India needed to usher in an era of climate resilient agriculture to fulfill nutrition needs of its population, he added. Swaminathan said with day and night temperatures rising than normal, the production was set to be hit. ‘‘A rise in temperature between 1°C to 2°C seems inevitable. This poses a challenge to the agriculture of the country whether it is able to become a foodgrain sufficient state or will help foreign farmers by importing foodgrains.’’ he remarked. He said there was a need to bridge yield gap movement, organise oil seeds and pulses village in rain-fed areas and encourage women to take up
farming.
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Biometric attendance system fails at health centres
Ludhiana, February 10 The machines were installed at the initiative of state Health Minister Laxmikanta Chawla, who was confident that absenteeism of medical officers in rural areas would now be curbed to a great extent. A little over a year later, insiders concede that the experiment had come a cropper. Sources in the department claimed that 120 of the machines had stopped functioning. While the claim is yet to be verified, state Principal Secretary (Health) Satish Chandra admitted that the department was no longer receiving attendance records from any of the centres. It is claimed that the machines are sturdy enough to last a long time without much maintenance or repair, specially since they were to be used by a few employees posted at the rural health centres, numbering between 10 and 20. But the extraordinary speed with which the machines have stopped functioning has raised suspicion that many of them were tampered with deliberately. An employee at a health centre told The Tribune that “mud and water were used to damage the machines”. Doctors clearly want to have the cake and eat it too. They are loath to give up their private practice in urban areas or their attachment to private hospitals and nursing homes. At the same time, they are reluctant to let go of the perks, security and incentives of their government jobs. Biometric machines in 12 out of 15 community health centres (CHCs) and primary health centres (PHCs) in Ludhiana and Fatehgarh Sahib are non-functional. Similarly, the attendance machines at PHCs, including Chak Shere Wala in Muktsar district, Jandiala in Jalandhar district and Bilaspur in Moga district, too have been tampered with. The Tribune team visited the PHC at Mullanpur to find the biometric machine out of order. The doctor on duty informed nonchalantly that the complaint had been sent to the office of the civil surgeon in Ludhiana. The Principal Secretary told The Tribune, “Some machines are non-functional for the reasons best known to the civil surgeons as the department is at their mercy till now. Software installed earlier in these machines did not give us access to their attendance. Now, we are installing a new software that will give the head office also an access to the attendance marked by each and every employee at the health centres, enabling us to take action against absenteeism.”
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Unemployed to get vocational training
Chandigarh, February 10 Presiding over a meeting of the consultative group of the Vice- Chancellors, Badal asked them to identify the key areas where unemployed youth could be imparted vocational training to enable them to get employed. The CM also emphasised on the need to run junior science education colleges in the existing 76 private and seven government engineering colleges to strengthen the intake base of quality students seeking admission to various graduate and postgraduate courses in engineering.
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Citrus diversification low on priority
Chandigarh, February 10 Over the past two years, the state government has refused to release grants to the council. This programme was launched and promoted by the previous Congress government, but it is not getting much priority from the present government. With funds drying up, the council has run into trouble with farmers, as it has not been able to pay them lease money for their orchards. Almost all 200 citrus farmers, who opted for this programme, have also not even been paid the cost of managing operations at their orchards by the council. As a result, the citrus crop in many orchards especially those on small and marginal land holdings in Hoshiarpur and Abohar belt has failed. An orchardist from Pakhani village in Hoshiarpur, requesting anonymity, said that those farmers who had larger land holdings and enough money had managed to save their crop. “But the small farmers, with 10-12 acres of holding, have been the worst sufferers as their crop has failed. They had no money to run the diesel pumps for watering the orchards or for paying salaries to the farm labour,” he said. The council has taken on board over 180 farmers in Hoshiarpur, Gurdaspur, Abohar, Bathinda and Muktsar districts. The council has taken 4,000 acres of orchards on lease from these farmers.
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Chauhan’s name off black list Chandigarh, February 10 Another name deleted from the list is of Sukhbir Singh of Belgium, who also died some time ago.Ramachandran had sent details to Tarlochan in response to the question he had raised in the Rajya Sabha on April 16, 2008. Interestingly, the information supplied over 20 months after the question was raised in Parliament was last updated in September 2008.Tarlochan was informed that 205 Sikh NRIs, who took part in the protests against Operation Bluestar in 1984, were blacklisted. Out of this list of 205 Sikh NRIs, cases of 51 were reviewed last. Of them, seven were cleared. Those cleared at the last meeting of the review meeting, probably sometime in 2008, were Parsan Singh Belgium, Sukhbir Singh Belgium (already dead), Kulbir Singh Japan, Jagjit Singh Chauhan (UK) (already dead), Joginder Singh Bal (UK), Surinder Singh Chahal (UK) and Gurvinder Singh (UK). Remaining 44 Sikh NRIs continued to be on the black list, the minister said. Ramachandran further informed Tarlochan that 13 applications for the grant of visa to blacklisted Sikh NRIs were pending before Indian missions in different countries. This information, he said, was based on communication received from the Ministry of External Affairs on September 16, 2008. Ten of these applications were pending before Indian mission in Birmingham and remaining one each at Copenhagen, Frankfurt and Oslo. Tarlochan, in a fresh communication to the Minister of State for Home Affairs, wanted to know the latest position about pending applications as well as the latest position about the blacklisted Sikh NRIs. He said if the pace at which the review of black list was being done, not many would ever be able to return to India in their remaining part of their lives. Only 51 of the 205 cases of 1984 were reviewed as late as September 2008 and that too only seven, including two posthumously, were removed from the list. Interestingly, Dr Jagjit Singh Chauhan had returned to India on June 26, 2001 and formed a Khalsa Raj Party before his death in 2007.“It is a long-standing discrimination against Sikh NRIs and I have raised this issue continuously in Parliament. I would like to know the latest position on the issue because the report given to you by the office is still of September 16, 2008. In the Assurance Committee of which I am a member, this case has been kept pending because of no proper reply has been given by the Home Ministry,” Tarlochan Singh said in his last communication to the Minister of State for Home Affairs.
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Fiscal crunch hits mission hospital Ferozepur, February 10 Set up by the Presbyterian Church of the US through its representatives Janvier Newton and his wife, Frances Newton, after whom the hospital is named, it is now facing financial crunch as foreign funding, which used to come from the US and other parts of the country has become negligible after the missionaries left India after the 1971 Indo-Pak war. Now, the growth of this 300-bedded hospital, first-of-its-kind in Punjab, has come to a halt due to non-funding by foreign organisations coupled with ignorance by the Punjab government. The authorities, which have been running this hospital on charity lines, have been finding it difficult to serve the poor in the absence of modern medical equipment and facilities. Dr Richard David, director of the hospital, said it was equipped with special departments. It ran a school of nursing, school for laboratory technicians, and a blood bank. It was also having an intensive care unit, which had all types of equipment needed for post-operative emergency care. He said the hospital needed a good trauma centre, as it was not available in any government hospital in this region. Parminder Singh, general secretary, Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, who has initiated the task of arranging monetary help to the hospital, said he would approach Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in this regard. He said when the Punjab government had been giving facilities to multinational companies to set up hospitals at Bathinda and Mohali in joint venture then why it was not extending any aid to this hospital to set up its own trauma centre. He said the Punjab government must use the infrastructure available in the hospital, spread over 19 acres, to set up a cancer wing so that those suffering from dreaded diseases could also be treated.
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Tax men raid steel units
Mandi Gobindgarh, February 10 The raids would continue till late at night. Officials said they had been scrutinising the account records. The officials said records of industrial units, including Madhav Group, Gyan TMT Rods, Bharat TMT Rods Group and others, were being checked. Most of these factories are
situated on GT road, Sirhind. It is learnt that bank accounts of some of these factories have also been sealed. The officials said details about the raids would be revealed tomorrow.
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AYUSH Director divested of admn powers
Patiala, February 10 Notably, till 1997, the ayurvedic colleges were under the Director, ayurveda. But in 1998, these were brought under the Medical Education and Research. Later, in 2007, the Directorate, AYUSH, was set up and Government Ayurvedic College and the private ayurvedic colleges of Punjab came under the jurisdiction of this new Directorate, AYUSH.
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Case against Bibi Jagir Kaur dismissed
Chandigarh, February 10 Kulbir Kaur Dhami, president and director of Guru Asra Trust, had lodged a complaint in 2002 that Bibi Jagir Kaur and Jaspal Singh Dhillon had indulged in a criminal conspiracy against her and defamed her. She had alleged in her complaint that the accused, Jaspal Singh Dhillon and Bibi Jagir Kaur, had circulated copies of material (a book published by Jasbir Singh Dhillon and a letter in which he had levelled false allegations against the complainant) in India and abroad with an intention to defame her. It was alleged that the accused Jaspal Singh had published and released a book in Punjabi titled “Zimmewar Kaun” on November 12, 1999, which levelled as many as 18 false allegations against the complainant. The said allegations included embezzlement of trust funds, gross misadministration and several others. The most serious allegation levelled was that of withdrawing Rs 90,000 from the bank account of the trust by forging the signature of Jaspal Singh Dhillon on a cheque. The complainant said Dhillon wrote a letter in which these allegations had been levelled on the complainant to Bibi Jagir Kaur, who allegedly distributed the same to the press persons and abroad. Defence counsel of Jaspal Singh Dhillon, Tarminder Singh said when the charges against one of the alleged accused Bibi Jagir Kaur had been discharged then there was no need to carry forward the case against the second one.
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21 years on, no reply filed in promotion case
Chandigarh, February 10 Working as deputy seed production officer in Jalandhar district, AN Madan had moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court challenging an employee’s promotion to the post of regional manager. The petitioner claimed he was senior to the promoted employee. Madan claimed the criterion for promotion was merit-cum-seniority, but it was not stated anywhere that he failed on the merit front. As such, the employee’s promotion ahead of him was not justified. Taking up the matter, Justice K Kannan observed: “Although the petition has been filed in 1989 and the respondents have been served, there is no representation on behalf of the respondents. No counter has been filed to deny the petitioner’s contention. “The averments in the petition have, thus, to be taken to be the basis to hold that the petitioner could not have been denied his promotion when his junior was promoted and he shall be treated as having been promoted on the day when his junior was promoted i.e. on August 16, 1988. “Any monetary benefits accruing to the promotion post will have to be reworked and the petitioner will have the benefit of computation of such monetary benefits on a notional promotion granted to him on the day when his junior was promoted. “Counsel for the petitioner is unable to state the actual status of the petitioner in the respondent-Corporation as on date and is unable to vouch for a statement about the continuance of the petitioner with the respondent-Corporation. “The petitioner will have only, therefore, the monetary benefits attached to the promotion post and the same shall be re-worked and given the petitioner till the date of his superannuation if he is superannuated. If he still continues in service, he shall be promoted to the higher post on the basis that he was entitled to the promotion post on the day when his junior was promoted and he will also draw higher emoluments attached to the post.”
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NRI’s plea against ‘corrupt’ sants
Chandigarh, February 10 Balwinder Kaur Virk, who lives in Lancaster and has a house in Amritsar, said she came in contact with a baba from Amritsar during his visits to a gurdwara near their residence. He began to stay with their family during his visits and gradually prompted them to transferring $ 20,225 through the State Bank of India into his wife’s account for purchasing three plots at Amritsar. The petitioner said since her family had a strong religious bent of mind, it trusted baba’s words. But even after receiving the money, he did noting. Later, he agreed to transfer a plot in S G Enclave, Majitha Road, Amritsar, valued at Rs 4 lakh only but nothing was paid. Instead, she was threatened with dire consequences, including murder, if she persisted with her demand for money or plots, she alleged.
Ayurveda docs’
The Punjab government has assured the Punjab and Haryana High Court that the dispute on seniority of Ayurveda doctors serving in state-run institutions would be sorted out within 15 days. Anjali Bhawra, state secretary for the Medical Education and Research Departments, gave the undertaking before Justice Rajive Bhalla during the resumed hearing on a contempt petition of Bal Krishan Kaushik, a senior professor and the medical superintendent of Government Ayurvedic College and Hospital, Patiala.
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Chandigarh, February 10
Ferozepur, February 10
