Chandigarh, May 19
The Haryana State Election Commission claims to have made all arrangements for tomorrow’s municipal elections. The polling will start at 7.30 am and continue till 4 pm. Counting will begin immediately thereafter.

As many as 493 candidates are in the fray for the Municipal Corporation of Faridabad, 236 candidates for the Sonepat Municipal Council, 94 Tohana, 98 Fatehabad, 157 Hansi, 208 Jind, 83 Narwana, 153 Thanesar, 121 Narnaul, 156 Palwal and 179 Sirsa.

Among the municipal committees, the highest number of 169 candidates is in the fray in Gohana while the lowest number of 43 candidates is in Naraingarh. As many as 99 candidates are contesting in Charkhi Dadri, 83 in Ratia, 101 Sohna, 106 Barwala, 102 Jhajjar, 53 Safidon, 73 Cheeka, 91 Gharaunda, 56 Taraori, 54 Assandh, 93 Nissing, 68 Shahabad, 62 Ladwa, 56 Pehowa, 129 Mahendragarh, 48 Ferozepur Jhirka, 64 Nuh, 81 Hodal, 63 Punhana, 76 Samalkha, 46 Bawal, 78 Meham, 52 Kalanwali, 65 Ellenabad, 59 Rania and 86 Ganaur.

A spokesman of the commission said here today that all voters who had been issued the photo identity-cards for the assembly and Lok Sabha elections and their card numbers mentioned in the municipal electoral rolls would have to produce these cards to exercise franchise. other voters would have to establish his or her identity by producing documents.

The Haryana Government has notified public holiday for tomorrow in its offices as well as those of its boards and corporations, educational and other institutes situated in the limits of various municipal councils and the Municipal Corporation of Faridabad to enable employees to cast their vote.

Fatehabad, May 19
A surgeon posted in the General Hospital, Fatehabad, gave precedence to an additional income of a few hundred rupees than to save two precious lives.

Instead of attending an emergency caesarian operation, the surgeon preferred to perform 26 tubectomy surgeries that earned him an additional income of Rs 2,340 as per the incentive policy of the state government for family planning surgeries.

Tubectomy is a planned surgery unlike a caesarian operation and could have been delayed for a few hours or even a day.

These startling facts came to light after The Tribune highlighted the fact of alleged gross negligence of the health authorities in the report “Woman, infant die as health staff fail to deliver” published on Monday depicting how an expectant woman first lost her child and then her own life due to highly insensitive and inhuman attitude of doctors.

An inquiry ordered by the health authorities after the publication of the news as well as perusal of records by The Tribune point towards criminal negligence of the health authorities in this particular case.

The inquiry has revealed that some health officials went to the extent of tampering the bed head ticket of the victim, Sunita, alias Seema, by overwriting her haemoglobin level as 5 gm per cent instead of the actual 9 gm per cent to justify their action of referring the victim to Hisar instead of conducting the caesarian operation here.

The referral slip issued by the community health centre, Ratia, and the bed head ticket prepared in the General Hospital, Fatehabad, reveal that Dr Sunita Sokhi examined the victim at CHC, Ratia, at 10 am on Thursday and referred the patient to Fatehabad at 10:45 am with a remark that the patient required caesarian operation. Copies of these slips are with The Tribune now.

“Before referring the victim to Fatehabad, I talked to Dr OP Dahmiwal, an SMO and surgeon in General Hospital, Fatehabad, informed him about the complete condition of the victim and told him that it was an emergency and she required immediate caesarian operation,” said Dr Sokhi.

The patient reached General Hospital at 12 pm, where Dr Renu Bala examined her and immediately called up Dr Dahmiwal to inform that there was an emergency case and the woman needed immediate caesarian surgery.

Dr Dahmiwal left for Bhattu, where he performed 26 tubectomy operations, while the victim kept crying helplessly and in the process her uterus got ruptured.

When the kin of the victim had reached almost half way to Agroha Medical College, they were called back and later the caesarian was performed by a private surgeon, after which she delivered a stillborn baby and within hours she collapsed herself and died.

“Had Dr Dahmiwal made sincere efforts, the victim could have been saved,” concludes the report of the inquiry conducted by a deputy civil surgeon.

Dr Dahmiwal admitted having received calls from Dr Sunita Sokhi and Dr Renu Bala but added that he had told them that he had to go to Bhattu for tubectomy operations. He further said the woman’s blood group - B negative - was also not available in the hospital.

Fatehabad, May 19
The chief commissioner for persons with disabilities, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, has taken notice of the incident of denial of medical facilities to a differently abled woman in government hospitals at Bhuna, Fatehabad and Hisar.

The Tribune had published a news report: “Hospitals shut door on differently abled woman” in these columns on Sunday.

Taking notice of the report, the court of chief commissioner for persons with disabilities (CCPD), the deputy chief commissioner, TD Dhariyal, has written to the secretary, Health and Family Welfare, Haryana, with copies to some other authorities in this regard.

Dhariyal has asked them to investigate the matter and to take action against the persons concerned for displaying insensitivity towards a differently abled woman and her newborn baby.

The deputy chief commissioner has also requested the authorities to ensure that the woman and her baby are provided with all necessary medical assistance. “Appropriate arrangements be also made for their reasonable stay and maintenance in consultation with the Social Justice and Empowerment Department of the Haryana government in a dignified manner,” said the letter of the deputy chief commissioner.

The reports published in The Tribune said a differently abled woman, who delivered a premature baby under a tree at Lehrian village on May 14, could not get any medical treatment from government hospitals in Bhuna, Fatehabad and Hisar.

Dhariyal has also suggested that sensitisation programmes for health functionaries be organised in Haryana to avoid recurrence of such cases.

Copies of the letter have also been sent to Dr Baldev Karora, commissioner, disabilities Haryana, principal secretary, Social Justice and Empowerment Department, government of Haryana and the Directorate General of Health Services, Government of India.

Chandigarh, May 19
Cracking on industrial units producing spurious insecticides before the sowing season gets underway, the Agriculture Department has slapped an FIR against a manufacturing unit in Ambala.

As part of a campaign launched last week, Deputy Director Satya Vir Sharma, along with Quality Control Inspector Sushil Kumar, was carrying out inspection in the Barara block of Ambala when they were given a tipoff on spurious insecticide being manufactured in one of the units.

“We went to the unit and pretended to carry out a routine inspection. Since we could not take any action without the permission of senior officials, we observed everything closely and came out without a word.

“We took photos on our mobile for evidence and noted that the unit was packing expired insecticide and marketing it in a new package,” Sharma said. Once out, they informed the Director, Agriculture, and the Deputy Commissioner of Ambala. A special team comprising Sharma, SDM Barara and DSP Barara was sent to the unit.

After much effort, it was able to contact the owner’s son who reached the spot and opened the unit for a through check. The team found a drum into which the expired insecticide had been poured as also new containers and fresh labels.

Also, 15 bags of 25 kg each of medicine expired since August 2009 were seized. Later, an FIR was registered against the owner for cheating and forgery as also various sections of the Insecticide Act, 1968. Meanwhile, six more FIRs have been registered under the Seed Act in Sirsa, Fatehabad and Hisar for marketing BT Cotton seed without authorisation and providing incomplete information on the bags. Another case of illegal hoarding of urea has been registered under the Essential Commodities Act.

“We decided that this was the best time to get cracking on units making spurious insecticides and pesticides since sowing will begin shortly. “I have sent out senior officers to carry out inspections in the field and take action against anybody found indulging in any malpractice,” Director, Agriculture, Ashok Yadav said. The dire would continue for a month.

Chandigarh, May 19
Why has the department of Punjabi not been opened yet in Chaudhary Devi Lal University, Sirsa, and why haven’t the names of towns written in Punjabi yet?

These were some of the issues taken up by the National Minorities Commission with the Haryana government.

A member of the commission, HS Hanspal, said here today that the response of the state government hadbeen positive to these issues and, hence, he was hopeful that these issues would be resolved soon.

Hanspal said Chaudhary Devi Lal University was situated in a district, which had a large concentration of Punjabi-speaking persons.

Therefore, this university must have a Punjabi department. In addition, he said, he had also asked the state government to give Punjabi language its due place in other universities of the state also.

He was confident that the government would soon initiate steps to write the names of the towns in Punjabi also.

Hanspal has also urged the state government to recruit teachers of Punjabi so that it could be taught in schools.

The commission member urged the NGOs and other voluntary organisations as well as individuals to write to the commission highlighting the problems of the minorities so that these issues could be taken up with the state governments.

He said the commission had written to the Centre about the so-called black list of the Sikhs residing abroad.

Some of the names had been dropped from the list.

Similarly, the commission had taken up with the Uttarakhand government the issue of a gurdwara in Hardwar, where now the office of Red Cross was functioning. A letter in this regard had also been written to the Prime Minister.

He blamed the SGPC for the neglect of the Hardwara gurdwara. Hanspal said after the intervention of the commission, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister had allowed parking of vehicles of devotees visiting a Hyderabad gurdwara in the adjoining state library on Sundays. Similarly, the AP government was now giving financial assistance to Sikh girls.

Chandigarh, May 19
With the public transport system virtually non-existent in Haryana’s Millenium City, Gurgaon, the Transport Department is set to launch an intra-city bus service under the public-private partnership (PPP) model.

Sources in the department said the project would begin with two operators covering the city with 400 buses. The idea to rope in two operators has specially been conceived to ensure quality service which will come if there is competition.

Also, it would ensure that the model would not collapse if one of the operators was to “ditch” the department mid-way through the agreement.

The department is working out revenue sharing under the PPP model. While the ticketing revenue is likely to remain with the operators, the sharing of revenue to come in through advertisements on buses and bus stops and bus route displays remains to be worked out.

Low-floor buses will be plied under the project which will have 171 bus stops across the length and breadth of Gurgoan on 41 routes. “In identifying bus stops and routes, we have ensured that nobody has to walk for more than 750 m to get onto a bus,” an official said.

While the price of tickets is expected to be relatively high, the government, through its representatives in the Municipal Corporation, the Transport Department and the Haryana Urban Development Authority are expected to be able to have some say on the issue.

“We wanted high-quality service. Haryana Roadways essentially caters to inter-district or inter-city travel, making it highly ineffective for daily commuters within the city. We wanted to cover the entire city from its border with Faridabad, right up to Delhi and Manesar.

“Unlike inter-city buses which require greater seating capacity, these buses will have more standing space to accommodate passengers,” an official said.

The PPP model is expected to bring in investment without the government having to share the costs.

The matter will be taken up at a meeting of the steering committee constituted for the purpose on May 21. It will be chaired by Chief Secretary Urvashi Gulati.

Ambala, May 19
The CBI court today reserved the order for May 28 on framing charges against the alleged mastermind in the kidney transplant racket, Dr Amit Kumar, his brother Dr Jeevan and five other accused in the scam.

The arguments on framing charges began in the court of Special Judge for CBI cases, Haryana, AS Narang here today.

Defence counsels SD Singh, JS Kohli and Amit Gupta pleaded that the CBI had filed a complaint under the Transplantation of Human Organs Act in the court that could not be treated as chargesheet. They also pleaded that the CBI had not included medical experts during the investigation.

On the other hand, the CBI counsel argued that the accused had committed inhuman work.

He said hundreds of poor labourers and needy persons had become victims of the multi-crore kidney transplant racket. Besides Amit and Jeevan, the CBI had also booked three other doctors - Dr Saraj Kumar, Dr Upender and Dr K Aggarwal - a nurse Linda and two paramedical staff - Manoj and Gayasuddin - in the case. Dr Amit had been running a hospital in Gurgaon where the kidneys were removed and transplanted.

The CBI in its chargesheet has charged Dr Amit under Sections 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons), 342 (wrongful confinement), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 307 (attempt to murder) of the IPC and under the Transplantation Human Organs Act. All accused, except Linda, are lodged in the Ambala central jail.

Karnal, May 19
The inspection of Nari Niketan by Karnal Deputy Commissioner, JS Ahlawat, came as a blessing for hapless inmates not facing any court case and desirous of going back home.

He ordered that the girls not involved in any court case be released. In all, there are 43 girls lodged in the women’s home and most are not involved in any court case.

The visit of the DC came in the wake of 17-year- Manisha fleeing from the home on May 10. She has since not been traced.

The police has launched a hunt for her, displaying her picture at public places for possible clues.

Ahlawat directed that the height of the boundary wall of the women’s home be raised and a barbed wire fence be erected to thwart any attempt by the inmates to escape.

Superintendent Rajni Pasricha informed the DC that a mentally challenged Sita Rani had helped Manisha to scale the wall and escape.

Manisha was brought to the nari Niketan from Kurukshetra on September 9, 2009.

Sonepat, May 19
The main branch of State Bank of India is again in news. Earlier it was for withdrawal of money from the accounts of many ATM holders and now it is in news for an amount of Rs 4,65,500 being fraudulently withdrawn from the account of one Mangal Singh of Murthal village.

Mangal Singh had alleged the involvement of three bank officials in his complaint to the Superintendent of Police, Sonepat and higher authorities of the bank.

In his complaint, Mangal Singh stated that he retired from FCI on October 31, 2009 and had deposited a cheque of Rs 4,75,842 of CP fund in his bank account bearing number 10920268866 on April 8, 2010. However, when he went to the bank on April 13 to withdraw Rs 3 lakh, it was found that the amount of Rs 4,65,500 had already been withdrawn by him on April 12.

Mangal Singh had alleged that employees Ved Singh, SW, Jigyasu, passing officer and another SW Asha Kiran had connived in the withdrawal of money by putting his fake signatures. He had further alleged that these three employees were on duty on April 12 and the CCTV camera installed in the bank was also out of order on that day, he alleged.

“It was my life long saving,” he said. — OC

Panchkula, May 19
Keeping in view the Commonwealth Games to be held in October the state health department has decided to launch a special drive to control vector-borne diseases in districts around New Delhi.

Dr Satvir Chaudhary, director health services (malaria), announced this here yesterday during a state-level Malaria Working Committee Meeting being held under the aegis of National Vector-Borne Diseases Control Programme (NVBDCP).

Chaudhary said mosquitoes in large numbers were present in four districts, including Faridabad, Panipat, Rohtak and Karnal and they were taking necessary steps to stop the inbreeding of mosquitoes in these areas. He said the Delhi government has already initiated steps to check the spread of the vector-borne diseases in view of the Commonwealth Games and added that this would help to wipe out the disease from the state.

Meanwhile, presiding over the meeting Rajan Kumar Gupta, financial commissioner and principal secretary, health department said various departments in the state government should coordinate with the health department to check the spread of vector-borne diseases like malaria, dengue and other diseases.

He said there was need to create awareness among general public to check the accumulation of water in the surrounding areas for more than seven days.

Lauding steps taken by the health services department Gupta announced that there was considerable decrease in the malaria and dengue cases. He said during the year 2008, there were 1,159 confirmed cases of dengue while 125 cases of dengue were detected in the year 2009.

He said the Japanese encephalitis vaccination campaign was conducted in districts, including Karnal, Kurukshetra, Ambala, Panipat and Yamunanagar. He further announced that 4 lakh children among the age group 1 to 15 years would be vaccinated in Kaithal district till May 25.

Karnal, May 19
Costly equipment like computers and furniture worth lakhs was reduced to ashes in a fierce fire which broke out at the Old GT Road branch of the Oriental Bank of Commerce here late last night. However, cash and important documents were saved. The fire was noticed by a police patrol party which informed the fire brigade and officers of the bank.

It took nearly an hour to douse the flames.

Chief manager A. Khungar said the branch would now operate from Sadar Bazar and Meeraghati in Sectors 8 and 12, respectively.