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Doon Hospital increases user charges by 30 per cent
Stalemate between DMC, contractors over tenders continues
Grey Areas in DMC working - III |
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Mussoorie folk find style statement in tattoo
Medical interns oppose service charges
Additional Chief Secretary for timely utilisation of funds for development
ASHA workers accuse NGO of withholding dues
Seminar on judicial activities held
455 students participate in summer camp
Cub succumbs to injuries
Cong rejects Hema as ambassador of Sparsh Ganga
Marshall School score narrow 3-2 victory
Roshni Club down Boys Club
Kuldeep, Harish play a draw
Tae kwon do summer camp ends
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Doon Hospital increases user charges by 30 per cent
Dehradun, July 2 For the past 10 years and after the creation of the state no revision of user charges was carried, though almost all the hospitals in the state announce it every year, “The 30 per cent hike in user charges for diagnostic tests and treatments is reasonable, every year hike of 10 per cent will take place, while patients falling under below poverty line (BPL) category will not be affected by the change,” said Dr RK Pant, CMS, Doon Hospital. For most part, the patients also ordered free diet comprising of nutritious food cooked at the hospital kitchen, but now patients (APL) category will be charged Rs 20 for three meals a day. However, the raised cost of diagnostic procedure, bed charges, operation etc continues to be cheaper than the private clinics and hospitals. While the diagnostic tests will now cost Rs 50, at private hospitals it costs around Rs 150. The Health Department is also contemplating an increase in user charges in all the government hospitals of the state in the coming few days. The hike in the user charges though minimal, is expected to make a substantial difference to the earnings of the government hospitals, grappling with influx of patients on one hand and the pressure o provide better facilities. In fact, the provision for free food had made even fully cured patients enjoy an extended hospitality, since the announcement yesterday many had begun to leave the hospital. Now, free loaders who managed to extend their stay on one pretext or the other will have to look for another destination. Even children keen to get rid of their aged parents were using the hospital as a convenient place to dump their parents recovering from illness. The recommendations for hike in user charges were made during the tenure of DG Health Dr PL Joshi who has now retired. “The user charges in all the government hospitals were revised when we were part of Uttar Pradesh,” said DG Health Dr CP Arya, Doon Hospital. However, while raising the ECG charges for heart patients from Rs 30 to Rs 50, the charges for dialysis remain static at Rs 150.
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Stalemate between DMC, contractors over tenders continues
Dehradun, July 2 Mohan Singh Rawat, president of the Contractor Association, said, “Pandey asked us to go for tenders and assured us of raising the price later on. But we are not ready to be taken in by his soft words, as he may backtrack from his position later on. The officials of the corporation will bouquet for clearing tender work, wheras we will get bricks from people for not doing work on time, as we will get stranded due to the price issue. So we refused.” Pandey remained unavailable for comment. Yesterday, the contractors did come to the Dehradun Municipal Corporation premises but they neither met any official nor purchased forms for the tender process. The purchase dates of forms have been fixed for Thursday and Friday. They came to make sure that corporation does not give contracts to outsiders. Mohan Singh Rawat, President of Contractor Association said, “We will not take tenders unless the rates as fixed by the PWD departments are not accepted by the corporation. We will also not let any other contractor take tenders as well.” Such is the monopoly of these contractors. He went on justifying his stance saying that ever since mining has been banned in the city, they have to bring raw material from neighboring states, Uttar Pardesh and Himachal Pardesh. “The cost of each truck has escalated from Rs 4,000 to 12,000, including the transportation charges and increase in cost of material. In such circumstances, it is inappropriate from us to work at old rates,” he added. Mukhya Nagar Adhikari is not coming to corporation for past couple of days as he has another charge as Chief Development Officer. The Mayor was present in the office, but contractors did not meet him.
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Grey Areas in DMC working - III
Dehradun, July 2 There are 647 temporary, 215 permanent and 602 committee sanitation workers. Similarly, there are 29 permanent supervisors. There is only one Zonal Manager against the posts of two, none for the two posts of Chief Zonal Manager and only one sanitation-cum-food-inspector against the sanctioned six posts of inspector. Out of 47 sanitation vehicles, many remained in workshop for repair. Harak Singh Rawat, Additional Mukhya Nagar Adhikari (AMNA), says the status quo of the number of sanitation workers and officers in the Dehradun Municipal Corporation remains static since 1948. The state government too does not respond to filling the vacancies and meeting the requirements, he says. “There should be 28 sanitation workers for a population of 1,000 people. This way, the city needs at least 2,200 sanitation workers whereas we have approximately 1,500 sanitation workers. It becomes difficult to clean the city effectively with relatively less task force.” Supervisor Hari Om says the number of wards increased from 32 to 60 but the number of sanitation workers remained unchanged. Rawat who had been instrumental in carrying out sanitation drives effectively in Tehri Garhwal met with disappointment in his present capacity in Dehradun. When he made the sanitation workers of the samiti to lift garbage from each household in their wards, they went on a 15-day strike holding the sanitation condition of the city to ransom. “The samiti system was created to keep the city clean where the sanitation workers are supposed to lift garbage from each household and get half of the payment of Rs 1,500 from the collection of their respective localities and 1,500 from the DMC. The DMC did pay its share; rather increased it to Rs 2,000, but residents pulled their hands back. The very purpose of deputing these samiti workers thus got defeated. So when I tried to push them for garbage collection, besides their daily chores of cleaning roads, they retaliated and went on a strike. I had to budge before them. The basic and good purpose of sanitation got lost in petty politics.” Rawat also complains that a majority of them do not even go to their area to clean and, make fake attendance in must-roll for which supervisors are paid at the end of months. Baffled by his frequent checking on the site, they took to strike, he says. The sanitation workers have their own story to tell of not being made permanent, of being given low wages in the time of soaring prices. Mayor Vinod Chamoli passes the buck to the state government and says: “It has been 10 years since the formation of state and, the local body changing into a corporation in Dehradun, but the state government has retained all power to make new appointments in the corporation to itself, and has done little in the past 10 years. The state of sanitation is bound to be woeful in such circumstances.” In crux, it is the sanitation condition of the city, which is completely at the receiving hand. The civic sense of people too is to be blamed for as they too use any open piece of land or plot for dumping the garbage. Just another day, resident of Vijay Nagar Khushi Ram came complaining to Rawat saying that the small drain passing through his house remains choked with garbage which is thrown by people in the open plot owned by councillor Amita Singh. He said despite several pleas, nobody ever came to pick garbage from that plot, and he has to hire private helpers to do that, which is costing him dearly. The only silver lining in the dark cloud is the Solid Waste Management Plan under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission which is about to start in the next six months. The plan will augment appointment of sanitation workers which is yet to be assessed; facilitate door-to-door garbage collection, see purchase of 840 new hand carts, pick-up vans, containers and other related items. Since the plan will be funded and reviewed by the Centre, it is the least likely to be impaired by any petty politics.
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Mussoorie folk find style statement in tattoo
Mussoorie, July 2 He further said his kid also wanted to get a tattoo for himself but he refused due to the age factor. Rajendar has been into the tattoo business for the past 15 years. Originally from Haridwar, he got interested in the art after visiting the Jhanda Mela in Dehradun. He completed a tattoo course from Gurukul Knagri in Haridwar after Class XII and since then has never looked back. He arrived in Mussoorie a few years ago and received a good response in the town. Customers’ taste in designs is different now, says Rajendar, adding that earlier people used to prefer tattoos of religious signs like “Om” and “Ganesh”, but now many are choosing the troubled designs which are not easy to understand. “Dragon is the favourite of the tourists,” he said. Rajendar says the advent of colours has given a boost to the business and coloured tattoos are very popular among tourists, especially those from Punjab. Speaking on the hygiene, he says utmost care is taken and new sterilised needles are used for the whole design. The secret of the trade is that hands should not shake while the tattoo is being designed. There are as many as 10 tattoo artists in Mussoorie. Rajendar, however, laments the fact that this beautiful art form is looked low by the state government and it should try promoting this art form by organising various tattoo competitions in Uttarakhand. Many more people will be encouraged to join in and thus more employment opportunities will be created. The history of tattoo is over 5,000 years old and is as varied as the people who wear them. The two major derivations of the word “tattoo” are polynesian word “ta” that means striking some thing and the tahitian word “tatau” which means “to mark something”. Tattoos are created by inserting coloured materials beneath the skin. The first tattoo probably was created by accident. Someone had a small wound and rubbed it with a hand that was dirty with soot and ashes from the fire. Once the wound had healed, a mark stayed permanently on the skin. Indians for centuries have used the human body as a medium of art and religious expression. Many of these forms such as the nama (daily body paitings), vibhuti (sacred ash) and the mangalya (the red dot worn by Indian women) have origins in the Hindu rituals. Other forms of body art found in India such as heena (temporary tattoos), tattoos and body piercing are very prevalent and are complied here for a pictorial exhibit. In India God Hanuman is also a popular symbol of strength on arms and legs. The mythical monk is still today one of the most popular creations in Thailand and Myanmar. They are put on the human body by monks who include magical powers to the design while tattooing. Women are excluded because monks are not allowed to be touched by them and because Thais believe women do not need the extra boost as they are already strong enough. It is also known that Leonardo Da Vinci painted human bodies too.
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Medical interns oppose service charges
Dehradun, July 2 At a press conference today, Dr Krishan Murari Gupta, president of the sangh, said the imposition of fee would be a financial constraint on students who did not receive stipend during training. “While government college students receive a stipend of Rs 1,950 per month during their course of internship the private students do not have this facility, now this new order will only add to our burden,” said Dr Gupta.
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Additional Chief Secretary for timely utilisation of funds for development
Nainital, July 2 He said there was no dearth of funds for various schemes like the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA), Indira Awas Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojana, (PMGSY), Jawahar Lal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), etc. He asserted that the officials needed to ensure that the funds were utilised optimally for the purpose for which they had been sanctioned. He said for the first time the money sanctioned under the district sector provision had already been disbursed to the districts in April and May. According to him, Rs 120 crore had been sanctioned for Kumaon district, out of which Rs 35 crore had already been spent. Kumar expressed displeasure over attempts by officials to present a wrong picture to senior-most officials. He has ordered a probe into a case of disparity emerging in the figures pertaining to the spending of Rs 24 lakh by the Agriculture Department, where the versions coming from the District Agriculture Officer and Joint Director in Nainital vary. “A probe has been ordered and the guilty will be punished,” he said. He has also ordered the suspension of an official of the Forest Department in Tanakpur. “Permission had been obtained for cutting of some trees for completion of a road project and yet the divisional logging manager of the Forest Corporation had not got the trees cut,” he said while warning that similar action would be taken against the other erring officials also. The Additional Chief Secretary asked the officials to ensure that they strove to get “A” grade in every sector when it came to the implementation of the 20-Point Programme in the region. He also advised them to consult senior officials if they faced any problem in implementing the developmental schemes. He also asked them to ensure that the works being completed should be technically sound.
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ASHA workers accuse NGO of withholding dues
Dehradun, July 2 Recently the ASHA workers undergoing training with an NGO had organised a sit-in at Raipur (Dehradun) and accused those running the NGO of not paying the full honorarium that was their due and also getting the voucher signed for the full payment of the amount. Earlier, the common review mission team had found the disbursement of the honorarium amounts to auxiliary nurses/midwives (ANMS) and ASHA workers faulty and had called upon the Health Department to come up with a fool-proof and Under the NRHM, the state has set an ambitious target of training a total of 3,305 ASHA workers covering districts of Uttarkashi, Tehri Garhwal and Almora and one block each form the remaining 10 districts. NGOs and panchayats select the ASHA workers. Besides, to improve maternal health services a total of 1,977 ANMs are carrying out exercise of early registration of pregnancies. But poor facilities at the training centres and dishonest intention of the NGOs may hamper the training programme for which funds are provided by the Centre. Time and time again, payments made to the ASHA workers have encountered glitches mainly due to poor monitoring by the department of the NGOs.
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Seminar on judicial activities held
Dehradun, July 2 Renu D Singh, chairperson of SAMADHAN, Dehradun Chapter, said, “Judicial activities are the amalgamation of the police accountability and the reforms in the existing mechanism of the department. The seminar is not only meant for the students pursuing law, but also for victims who have actually transformed their identities after being a part of this organisation.” “Our aim is to make people agile about law, rights and duties, which every citizen should be aware of. I appreciate the humble participation of eminent people in the seminar and their generous contribution to the organisation,” she asserted.
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455 students participate in summer camp
Dehradun July 2 The month long sports camp was conducted in association with Pundir Properties and Shaifali jewellers. The sports consisted of lawn tennis, swimming, skating, shooting, horse riding, karate, dance, cricket, football, badminton and many others. The summer camp was organised with an aim to develop alternative curriculum for schools and for the students as well. On the occasion, Arvind Gupta, organiser of the camp informed that students from states had participated in the camp and have received training in various sports activities. Football matches between Dehradun and Vikasnagar teams were also played during the camp. The chief guest for the occasion was Kunal Malla and Anuradha Malla who also gave away the prizes along with the certificates to the winners of the competitions as well as matches. Other eminent guests who had attended the event were Sita Ram Nautiyal, Shobhit Mittal, Amit Goyal, Keval Pundir and Gulab Chaudhary, International Coach in sports.
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Cub succumbs to injuries
Dehradun, July 2 Corbett Tiger Reserve Deputy Director CK Kavidayal said the cub, which was found with serious injuries on its back, was estimated to be 30 days old. Kavidayal asserted the injury was more likely caused due to it either falling down from a height or meeting with some other mishap.
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Cong rejects Hema as ambassador of Sparsh Ganga
Dehradun, July 2 It was Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment Harish Rawat, who is also member of the Lok Sabha from Haridwar, who took exception to the making of Hema Malini as the brand ambassador of the campaign. “The Ganga in itself has been the brand ambassador of India and the Indian culture for ages. It does not need anyone to brand it,” Rawat commented here yesterday. He said Hema Malini at the best could be a brand ambassador of the BJP and not the Ganga. Reacting to Rawat’s comment, Dr Devender Bhasin, president of the State Media Advisory Committee, in a statement clarified that Hema Malini was the brand ambassador of the Sparsh Ganga campaign and not the Ganga river.
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Marshall School score narrow 3-2 victory
Dehradun, July 2 In the evenly poised game, Ghaziawala Boys took lead when Vishant scored a goal in the 15 minute of the game forcing Marshall school to counter attack. They succeeded when Vivek from Marshall School scored the equaliser. Both the teams launched attacks and counter attacks but failed to score forcing the match to go in tiebreaker. In the tiebreaker, Rajender, Siddharth and Rohit scored for Marshall School while only Vishant and Partik could net goals for Ghaziawala Boys.
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Sports Hostel beat Nagar Nigam
3-0
Dehradun, July 2 The Sports Hostel boys were just unstoppable for the Nagar Nigam team. Pankaj Jatav scored two goals in the 22nd and 28th minutes to give lead to the Sports Hostel team. In the 34th minute, Dewan Singh Bisht of the Sports Hostel surprised the Nagar Nigam team goalkeeper by scoring a goal by a kick from 22 yards in the 34th minute. In the second match, the Yankees Club defeated Khalanga Boys 2-0. For Yankees Club, Rahul opened the score by netting a goal in the 14th minute by beating the defenders. Mangal scored the second goal for the Yankees in the 32nd minute to seal the fate of the match.
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Roshni Club down Boys Club
Dehradun, July 2 It was B Boys team which took an early lead in the match when Siddharth scored a brilliant goal in the fourth minute of the match. However, the Roshni Club came back into the game when Vikas scored the equaliser in the 22nd minute. It was the neck-and-neck competition after that but Rahul from the Roshni Club after getting an excellent cross scored the second goal for his side in the 40th minute of the game. The B Boys tried hard for the equaliser but could not succeed till the long whistle. The Uttarakhand Tigers will play against Sunderwala Boys tomorrow. Teams are well prepared and a good match is expected tomorrow from both the teams. Players of both the teams look confident too.
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Kuldeep, Harish play a draw
Dehradun, July 2 The tournament that was inaugurated by senior Congress leader Suryakant Dhasmana has been started in the memory of BS Bisht, a veteran chess player of the city, who remained Uttar Pradesh chess champion in 1987 and was also president of the Uttar Pradesh Chess Association in 1986-87. A total of nine rated players are taking part in the tournament. In the second match, Vinay Raj Bhatt of Srinagar defeated DS Bharatwal Ravi Rana, another rated player from Pauri Garhwal got past Ravinder Shah of Haldwani. Mohan Nainthai of dehradun beat avinash Chander from the city. SK Sharma from Ghaziabad defeated Hasan Mansoor of Dehradun, while Narinder Singh from Srinagar beat Mohit Kumar of Dehradun. Vinod Anand beat Aditya Kumar Gupta of Dehradun. AS Negi of Pauri Garhwal trounced Rajan Sood of Dehradun while Surya Parkash Pokhriyal defeated AK Gairola of Dehradun.
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Tae kwon do summer camp ends
Dehradun, July 2 The camp was conducted at Rajkiya Inter College, Tilak Road, in which a large number of children of different age groups participated enthusiastically. The chief guest of the closing ceremony was vice-president of zilla panchayat Shiv Prasad Devli, while president of the academy Jagdish Rana chaired the event. However, the winners were awarded with gold, silver and bronze medals along with the certificates. The chief guest also felicitated participants of the international Tae kwon do competition held last month in Lucknow.
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For now onwards patients availing treatment at the District Doon Hospital will have to loosen their purse strings a bit, not only have the rates of diagnostic tests been revised but the above poverty line (APL) patients will also have to pay for their food too.
The Ayurvedic Chikitsa Chhatar Sangh, Uttarakhand, has criticised the government for imposing service charges on interns at government hospitals. As per the latest government order, a fee of Rs 5,000 will be charged from students of private medical colleges and paramedical interns at the government hospitals.
Marshall School won its encounter against the Gaziawala Boys 3-2 through a tiebreaker to enter into the semifinal of the Promotional Football Tournament being played at Pavillion Grounds here today.
Dehradun, July 2
On the concluding day of one month tae kwon do summer camp conducted by Dehradun Sports Tae kwon do Academy, a competition of the four categories were held here today.The camp was conducted at Rajkiya Inter College, Tilak Road, in which a large number of children of different age groups participated enthusiastically.
