Bathinda, October 31
Handsome salaries, it seems, are insufficient to meet the desires of the doctors at the Civil Hospital, Bathinda, as a majority of them, in disregard to their pledge to serve society, are busy raking in the moolah even at the cost of the helpless and financially weaker patients.

A recent investigation conducted by The Tribune found that a majority of the doctors have some form of tie-ups (at personal level) with the expensive diagnostic centres in the city. They refer patients there and get attractive commissions in lieu of it.

The practice is in violation of the recent notification of the Punjab Health System Corporation (PHSC), according to which, four private diagnostic centres/laboratories of the Bathinda were brought on the panel of the district health authorities and all cases needing in-depth investigation were to be referred to these centres. Unfortunately, it is not happening.

Before bringing them on panel, the PSHC authorities had invited quotations from diagnostic centres and evaluating them thoroughly, rates for all kinds of tests were specifically mentioned in the terms and condition, which the centres had willingly accepted. Intending to facilitate the treatment of people from weaker sections of society, the approved rates of empanelled centres were settled at even less than half the rates prevalent in the market.

Following the guidelines, the officials concerned had circulated a notification to all doctors in the Civil Hospital and even put up a board bearing the names of the empanelled diagnostic centres along with the test rates at these four centres.

Despite this, it has been observed that doctors avoid following the orders of the PHSC and refer the patients to other diagnostic centres, which pay them hefty commissions out of the fee charged from patients.

Irked over it, Dr GS Shekhawat, whose centre is also on the panel, asked for related information for the month of August from the Civil Hospital authorities under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

Initially, the Public Information Officer (PIO) of the hospital allegedly attempted to avoid providing the information but after the applicant filed an appeal, “half baked” information was supplied.

The information provided was startling as the hospital authorities replied that the only three outdoor and two indoor patients from the medicine department were referred for CT scan to the empanelled centres, while all other doctors denied providing information stating that they did not have any such information. The low number of patients referred to the empanelled centres was surprising as thousands of patients are treated at the Civil Hospital OPD every month.

About the MRI scan, except for the eye department that had referred one patient to an empanelled diagnostic centre, the authorities denied the information citing the excuse that they did not have any such information.

Further, the report sent by the officials of the women and children hospital raised questions over its reliability as five of the six doctors of the hospital claimed to have referred not even a single patient for CT scan and MRI scan, while one denied providing information saying he did not have any record.

Meanwhile, The Tribune received some reference slips (along with doctors’ signatures) and some photographs which show that the doctors had referred patients to some diagnostic centres that are not empanelled.

When contacted, Civil Surgeon, Bathinda, Dr ID Goyal said he was not aware of the issue but assured of inquiring into the matter and mentioned that anybody found guilty would have to face the music.

However, he said the doctors can’t force patients to get their tests conducted at a particular centre, they can just advise and it is up to the patients to heed to it.

It may be mentioned that earlier, The Tribune had also taken up the case of anomalies in the orthopaedics section of the hospital.

Moga, October 31
The SSP of Moga Sneh Deep Sharma has sent inspector Barinder Singh, SHO of city police station (south), to the Police Lines with immediate effects pending inquiry of allegedly torturing a youth against him and has posted inspector Swaran Singh, SHO of Dharamkot police station, in place of him.

The Tribune in its news report ‘Youth suspected of stealing dog tortured by cops’ published in these columns on October 28 had highlighted the allegations of a 20-year-old Christian youth, who was allegedly thrashed by the SHO and his subordinates by taking him into illegal custody.

The youth was picked up by the SHO Barinder Singh and his subordinates on suspected grounds that he had stolen the dog of a local transporter, Narottam Puri, who is also the president of the state private bus operators' union.

Raj Bhatti, father of the tortured youth Sunny, had alleged in a written complaint given to the SSP through Gurmail Singh Rai SP (D) that his son was thrashed by the said SHO himself and two of his subordinates. The SP (D) marked an inquiry to the DSP (city) into the incident, which was still pending.

After his release, under the influence of the local citizens, the youth was taken to the district hospital where he was given first aid and a medico-legal report was also prepared by the doctors of the injuries suffered by him, claimed his father.

When contacted, the SSP Sneh Deep Sharma said the pending inquiry against Barinder has nothing to do with his sending to the police lines. “We need his services somewhere else and he would be given a posting shortly,” he said.

He said Sohan Singh, SHO of police station (rural), has been transferred to the police station Dharamkot while Gurbinder Singh has been placed as the new SHO in his place.

Abohar, October 31
Manoj Kumar, a kinnow grower of village Seetogunno of this sub-division appeared to be disappointment as his kinnow orchard is likely to bear only 15 per cent fruit as compared to last year’s production and hence he is likely to suffer heavy losses.

Jasvir Inder Jakhar of village Patre Wala, who owns 35 acres of kinnow orchard, also fell in the same bracket as production of fruit this year is likely to be only 40 per cent of last year’s production. He earned handsome profit from kinnow crop last year and he would suffer heavy losses due to reduction in kinnow production. Thousands of kinnow growers of this region have started heading for economic setbacks as production of this fruit has come down drastically.

First, there was drastic reduction in fruit bearing during April-May and now continuous dropping of unripened fruits has cutting production further and hence pushing them towards to a situation where they would suffer heavy losses.

“We are expecting that this year production of kinnow will be around 40 per cent of the production of this fruit last year. First, the fruit bearing was less during April-May and now heavy dropping has developed this kind of situation,” said Surinder Dogra, horticulture development officer (HDO), Abohar. He added that a large section of those orchards, whose age was around four to five years, had been completely devoid of fruit crop.

He said the climatic changes witnessed in the month of October this year had intensified the dropping of unripened fruit.

Tek Chand, Deputy Director, Horticulture, Ferozepur, said about 20,000 hectares of land was under kinnow orchard in Ferozepur district.

Due to less fruit bearing, the production was expected to come down and a large patch of land in this region, which would turn orange in December-January, would be missing this time.

The behaviour of kinnow plants was erratic as they bear huge quantity of fruits one year and less quantity the very next year.

Sanjeev Godara, a leading kinnow grower and Director, Mandi Board, Punjab, said that orchard owners, who did not lease out their orchards in the month of March-April, had been finding it difficult to lease out the same now as contracts had started disappearing from this reason due to fear of less production of kinnow this season.

Meanwhile, the local markets of this town are being flooding with kinnow fruit droppings, which are being sold at the rate of Rs 4 to Rs 5 per kilogram.

Bathinda, October 31
Due to the lengthy process of declaring a government vehicle as condemned and disposing it of, a number of discarded government vehicles are reportedly either rotting or turning into junk in the state, including Bathinda.

For example, some discarded government vehicles have been lying at the local Mini-secretariat and on the premises of the Civil Hospital here for the past some time. Due to delay in the completion of the entire process of auctioning the vehicles, the condition of some of the vehicles has been turning from bad to worse. These vehicles include Ambassador car, Maruti Gypsy and Swaraj Mazda.

Those who witness these vehicles in routine, are of the view that the condition of some of the vehicles is such that they will not be able to fetch a good amount during the auction. Besides, if these vehicles are not auctioned in the months to come, then they may start turning into junk.

As such vehicles almost remain parked in the open, abandoned, the view is that theft of vehicles parts is a possibility and affects the price of the condemned vehicles during the auction.

As per information, an office wishing to discard its vehicle or get it declared as condemned, first gets the sanction from its head office in this regard. In normal course, a vehicle can be discarded when it either completes ten years or has traveled more than three lakh kilometers in distance.

After the sanction by the head office, the case at the district level comes to a committee, headed by the deputy commissioner, for examining whether the vehicle is fit for being declared condemned and for fixing its price. After that, an auction notice is issued for auctioning the condemned vehicle.

Due to such a lengthy process, some of the vehicles remain parked for years together in their office complexes. Only if such vehicles are auctioned at a proper time can it fetch a good amount at the time of auction.

Sriganganagar, October 31
While expressing gratitude for organising mega health awareness camp in the border village Mohanpura, sarpanches and former sarpanches of different villages assured Maj Gen KJS Thind, GOC Sudershan Chakra Division, that the people would keep a vigil in the border area and would offer wholehearted assistance to the security forces in ensuring security of the international border. The GOC was received by Brigadier Sanjay Thapa, commander, Stallion Brigade.

A team of doctors comprising Dr Akash Khurana, SMO (Seetogunno), Dr Ashwani Loona (Fazilka), eye surgeon Dr Somnath Singh Dawar, gynaecologist Dr Upasana Setia, surgeon Dr RK Gupta and dental surgeon Capt Dr Yogesh Sharma examined the patients.

Elaborate arrangements were made to ferry people from the neighbouring villages for free check-up that included lab and ECG tests, free medicines from well-stacked dispensary as well.

Maj Gen Thind interacted with Charanjit Singh Sandhu sarpanch (Mohanpura) and other dignitaries about the problems of the border area and offered to continue the campaign to bring awareness among the residents over hygiene and environment.

Former sarpanches, Santveer Singh and Jagtar Singh, revealed that Mohanpura was inhabited by Sikh families from Faridkot and other areas of Malwa region who responded to an invitation extended by Maharaja Ganga Singh after construction of Bikaner (Gang) canal. Punjabi farmers had played a vital role in developing Sriganganagar region as food bowl.

The camp was held at the Government High School, headmaster Baldev Singh too briefed the visiting senior Army officers about the schemes taken up by the administration to promote literacy.

Bathinda, October 31
Hitab Gupta today clinched the first gold for Bathinda in the inter-district taekwondo contest for schools going on here while her other team-mates also came up with superb fighting skills and bagged medals for the district.

Earlier, assistant education officer, Bathinda, Harnek Singh inaugurated the fights for U-14 girls on the second day of the five-day Punjab School Games (Taekwondo) at the Sports Stadium here. Boys and girls of schools from across the state are participating in the martial art contest under age group of 14, 17 and 19.

Hitab won the gold by defeating Sandeep of Jalandhar in the below-16 girls group.

As far as the performance of other districts is concerned, Tamanna Sud of Ludhiana won gold for the district as she defeated Ustat of Bathinda in 16-18 weight-group category.

In the 18-20 weight-group, Archana of Amritsar bagged gold while Kritika of Ludhiana won silver medal.

Aditi of Patiala won a gold in the 20-22 weight group. She defeated Isprit of Bathinda.

Another gold for Bathinda came when Jaska Barga defeated Manpreet of Muktsar in 22-24 weight group.

In the 24-26 weight-group, Prabhjot of Jalandhar bagged top medal while Sania Sharma of Bathinda had to be satisfied with silver.

But the moments of jubilation came soon for Bathinda camp when Riteender clinched gold in 32-35 weight group.

Bathinda, October 31
Suspecting his wife to be involved in immoral activity, a man shot her dead at village Gumti Kalan in the district this morning. It is learnt that Manpreet Kaur (30) of village Babbal Khurd in Faridkot district and one Jaswinder Singh of Gumti Kalan village got married about eight years back and had a five-year- old son.

Sources said it was the second marriage of both. Jaswinder doubted his wife’s character, due to which the couple used to quarrel almost everyday.

In his complaint to the Bhagta police, Sukhmander Singh, father of the deceased Manpreet Kaur, stated that he along with his friend Jarnail Singh had come to his daughter’s place and had stayed for the night there. When he got up in the morning, he found the couple involved in an altercation.

Before he could intervene, Jaswinder brought out his .12 bore rifle and fired at his wife. The first bullet hit her in the arm while the second hit her in the abdomen leaving her dead on the spot. The accused fled from the scene, he alleged.

Acting upon the statement of the deceased’s father, the Bhagta police booked Jaswinder Singh under section 302 of the IPC and various sections of the Arms Act on the charge of killing his wife.

Confirming the facts, Bhagta police station SHO Manoj Kumar said the police was conducting raids to nab the accused.

However, sources in the police station said the accused was rounded up and the weapon used in crime was also recovered but his arrest would be brought on record on Monday after fulfilling legal formalities.

It was also reported that some of the relatives of the accused had a criminal history.

Fazilka, October 31
About 13 members of the unemployed ETT teachers union going towards Badal village have been rounded up as a preventive measure. They were about to leave for Chief Minister’s native village Badal to participate in the protest rally. The teachers were rounded up near Malout Chowk.

A vigilant police party intercepted the vehicle and rounded up Vinod Kumar, Pawan Kumar, Sunil Kumar, Ajay Kumar, Raj Kumar, Charan Singh, Neeraj Kumar, Ashish Kumar, Sunny, Vikram, all resident of different localities of Fazilka, Deep Kumar, a resident of village Turkanwali, Raj Kumar, a resident of village Karni Khera and Inqlab Singh, a resident of village Pakka Chisti falling under Fazilka sub-division.

Baljit Singh, president, Unemployed Teachers Union, Malwa zone, said the government was bent upon crushing their agitation. They said about 30,000 posts of teacher are lying vacant in the state education department and the government promised to fill up 12,000 posts of ETT teachers but has backtracked from its promise.

The teachers said the police raided the house of many of them on Saturday night too but could not locate them from their hideouts.

Moga, October 31
Stressing upon the need of judicious use of antibiotics, pharmacy scientists have welcomed the recent decision of the Union Health Ministry to formulate legislation and guidelines for strictly enforcing the rational use of antibiotics.

Scientists were participating at the concluding day of the two-day national seminar on the ‘Role of pharmacist in rational use and clinical trial of drugs’ organised by the Indian Hospital Pharmacists Association at the Indo-Soviet Friendship College of Pharmacy here.

They said the government had decided to formulate legislation following reports of a ‘superbug’ originating in South Asia, which was resistant to most antibiotics being used in the country.

Prof SK Bandopadhyay, president of the Indian Pharmacological Society, Kolkata, said the major concern was the common practice of antibiotics being sold without prescriptions. “People use antibiotics for everything without thinking the possibility of developing drug resistance”, he said. Prof Piyush Trivedi, VC of Rajiv Gandhi Technical University, Bhopal, presided over the valedictory function.

Sriganganagar, October 31
The day-long conferences to educate the elected representatives of panchayati raj institutions over the change in mode of their role and activities were organised at Sriganganagar and Hanumangarh on Sunday. The conference in Sriganganagar was presided over by parliamentary secretary Brahmdev Kumavat while state cabinet member Nana Ram Ninana was the chief guest at Hanumangarh.

Kumavat said besides the awareness over new role of panchayats in the changed circumstances, participants would also be briefed and educated over different aspects of effective and transparent implementation of MGNREGA related works. The conferences were also attended by Sangria MLA Dr Param Navdeep, Suratgarh MLA Gangajal Meel and chairpersons of Zila Parishads and Panchayat Samitis. — OC

Sriganganagar, October 31
Eminent wrestler Jagjit Singh Sidhu has been arrested in connection with killing of his NRI brother Harjit Singh over family land dispute at village Chak 20GG, SP Rupinder Singh said on Sunday.

A case under section 302, 34 of the IPC was registered against Jagjit Singh and his kin on the complaint lodged by Paramjit Kaur (wife of the slain NRI) at Chunavadh police station.

The victim had settled in Germany in 1986 where he served as scribe for the Voice of America besides owning a restaurant. He returned to native village last year to settle the dispute of ancestral agricultural land. — OC