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Abandoned patients are ‘untouchables’ at GMC Hospital
Road accidents |
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Drug Menace
Plan to usurp land around Dal Lake unearthed
Kashmir safe for tourists, says Minister
Forest conservator gets state award
Rs 7.12 cr earned in cocoon rearing this year
JAMMU DIARY
Laying of road to colony welcomed
DGP promotes 273 cops
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Abandoned patients are ‘untouchables’ at GMC Hospital
Jammu, February 1 Though the civil administration was quick in taking cognizance of their plight on January 29 but to no avail as the hospital administration cites manpower shortage as the sole reason for not attending to them properly. However, the perpetual poor plight of these patients has put a question mark on the credibility of NGOs and champions of human rights in the state, besides reflecting clearly the conspicuous denial of social responsibility at large. Hardly, anyone going past the cabin would ever dare to peep into the place where these helpless persons have been inching towards a painful end in the absence of medicare, food and water. Their wounded and ailing bodies have been reduced to skeletons. These patients have been living in extreme unhygienic condition for the past many days as a result of which their rags and matted hair have started stinking. Unable to walk to toilets to respond to the call of nature, they defecate and urinate in the cabin itself. Their condition is deteriorating by the day. The fear of impending death in the sunken eyes of these patients sends shivers down the spine. After a section of the media highlighted the inhuman treatment being meted out to them and the subsequent visit by Deputy Commissioner Sanjeev Verma to the hospital along with members of the Red Cross Society, the hospital administration provided clothes to a patient who was earlier scantly dressed. Yet the kind of care they need is still a far cry for them. During his visit to hospital, the DC reprimanded the hospital administration for the poor sanitary conditions and the medical staff’s apathy towards them. He had clearly had told the supervisory doctors that “the patients would be rehabilitated only after their medical treatment was over.” It was shocking to note that one of these patients, Priya, was reportedly discharged by the hospital yesterday. She poured out her agony to The Tribune on Saturday, saying that : “I have some problem in my kidneys but doctors are not attending to me.” She also had deep wounds in the right leg which had now been infested with worms. “Nurses dressed my leg around a month back. The wound gives me unbearable pain but none listens to my cries,” she said. She also objected to the admission of a male patient lying unconscious next to her as he was scantly clothed. Another old woman draped in rags, who introduced herself as “a begging woman”, could not say anything more, perhaps due to a language problem. She was lying on the floor in the corridor facing the cabin. Radhay Sham, a resident of Bihar and an accident victim, is not in a position to move. “We hardly get food here. Even water is not made available to us when we cry in wrenching pain," he said, imploring this reporter with folded hands: "Do something, save my life." Ghani Lone, who has serious burn injuries, could not give any other detail except for his name. The rest of the patients were either sleeping or were perhaps unconscious. “We need some NGOs to provide some volunteers for their nursing care as the hospital does not have sufficient manpower,” Prof Rajinder Singh, Principal, GMCH, adding that, “I have directed the Medical Superintendent to explore the possibilities for providing them with proper medicare”. |
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Road accidents
Udhampur, February 1 The death of a Jammu-based businessman, Madan Mohan Sharma, in a road accident on January 27 near Ramban on the national highway-1A came as a grim reminder to the authorities to act immediately to activate the QRTs so as to save precious human lives. Sharma’s vehicle had fallen into a deep gorge. His friend Anuj Verma has alleged that his body was retrieved six hours after the traffic police was informed about the mishap. “We believe Sharma’s life could have been saved had there been no delay in the rescue work,” alleged Verma. The incident has reinforced the need to have a proper mechanism in terms of QRTs in these three hilly districts, which are considered accident-prone. The idea behind constituting QRTs was conceived during the tenure of former Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad. Sources said though the government gave nod to constitute the teams under the chairmanship of deputy commissioners, not much could be done to make the QRTs effective so far. BR Bhagat, deputy commissioner, Kishtwar, admitted that they lacked infrastructure about which the higher authorities had been informed. “We do not have proper equipment. A plan has already been sent to the state government in this regard,” said Bhagat. Sources alleged owing to official apathy all state-level meetings to review the performance of QRTs were being postponed for the past one year. Admitting this, Bhumesh Sharma, deputy transport commissioner, said the deputy commissioners had demanded longer ropes, cranes, ambulances and other equipment to retrieve vehicles and victims from deep gorges as well as the mighty Chenab flowing through the accident-prone areas of these districts. But Sharma expressed ignorance about what has been blocking the supply of the equipment so requisitioned. |
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Army’s medical, vet camp brings relief to nomads
Jammu, February 1 The camp was attended by all classes of the community and locals, taking advantage of free medical and health check-up. Abdul Wahid, a Bakerwal, was elated and all praise for the Army for providing them the much needed help. “We come here every winter by scaling the great heights of the Pir Panjal and roam around here along with our family and cattle. There is no source of medication in these remote jungles. Every year, some of my goats and sheep die due to lack of medical care and I am not able to do anything. Even my family members suffer a lot due to severe cold. But again due to lack of money, I am not able to take them to a doctor,” he rues. He adds, “When we came to know about this medical and veterinary camp, I thanked God and decided to visit the camp along with my family members and cattle. It came as a blessing for hapless people like us. We are grateful to the Army, without which the camp would not have been possible”. Capt Mahender Lal (retd), sarpanch of Kaldabi village, said, “This is the first time that a camp of this magnitude has been organised here. Due to tough terrain and improper road connectivity, it is not only difficult but near impossible to organise a camp at such a big scale. However, the Army has proved that it can overcome all odds and are always ready to help the people of the country. We are thankful to them for organising the camp and for providing us and our cattle free medical check-up and medicines”. A number of locals also appreciated this gesture of the Army and expressed gratitude for the assistance provided by the Army in other spheres also like education, surface communication, vocational training for self-employment
etc. The camp was inaugurated by Brig Yogendra Dimri, Commander of the Kalidhar Brigade, who was also the chief guest on the occasion. He was welcomed in a traditional manner by locals. A colorful cultural programme was also held by schoolchildren of nearby villages. The commander appealed to the locals to strengthen the hands of the Army against the nefarious designs of the terrorists. A number of senior dignitaries from the civil administration were also present. A total of 742 men, 1274 women and 987 children attended the camp. Also 482 animals were treated during the veterinary camp. Besides Army physicians, dentists and veterinary doctors, a number of civil specialist doctors were also present and provided their service to the people. Along with medical facilities, a CSD counter was also established got ex-servicemen of the area. Lectures on health and hygiene, ex-servicemen contributory health scheme and assured decent last rites scheme were also organised. Booklets on the same topics were also distributed to all for their reference and future assistance. |
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Drug Menace
Jammu, February 1 Israr Khan, SSP, Samba, accepted the fact that the incidents relating to drug peddling and smuggling of narcotics were a big challenge for them. He said: “The district shares its boundary with Pakistan and most of the times, narcotics smuggling takes pace through it. Though we have deployed the police force to arrest smugglers, yet there is more need to check the people coming from the border villages”. He said drug peddling was a major cause of worry for them as the number of drug peddlers arrested in the past one month was much higher than the previous months. “As per our surveys, mostly
drugs (intoxicant capsules and injections) reach the state from Punjab via Lakhanpur border. So, we have requested the Punjab police to keep a check in their areas so that we can get success in eliminating the menace from our area,” he said. He maintained that, “Earlier, it has learnt that the Punjab police never took initiative in this regard, but this time, so far, they have agreed to act upon our request”. Khan said hardly a day had passed in January without arresting any person in such cases. “We have also planned to launch an awareness drive in villages, which will spread the awareness about the ill-effects of drugs”. He maintained that most of the people in this area were illiterate and that’s why they were more prone to drugs. |
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Plan to usurp land around Dal Lake unearthed
Jammu, February 1 Ali said acting on a complaint from inhabitants of halqa Brain, sleuths of the Crime Branch found out in preliminary investigation that a big chunk of government land had fraudulently been mutated in favour of some influential persons of the area. “The mutated land was sold to the Firdous Developers and Construction Company for the construction of a tourist village,” he said. The IG said: “On the completion of preliminary verification vide PV No.90/2009, it was found that the revenue officials concerned after entering into a conspiracy with the builders mutated the state land into the name of some local inhabitants of the halqa without any authority and approval of the government required under the law. He further said the revenue officials then facilitated its further sale to the construction company in the name of promotion of tourism in the state, adding that
the said developers in violation of all norms went for major felling of trees, thus disturbing flora and fauna in the area, besides encroaching famous ‘Shuraab Khoul’. “Their efforts were supplemented by the LAWDA authorities in granting them permission for the so-called tourist village in violation of the rules and regulations without obtaining NOC from the WildLife, Forest, Soil Conservation Departments. Further damage to the area was stopped with the intervention of the Crime Branch,” the IGP said. The Crime Branch has registered a case under sections 420, 430, 467, 471, 447A read with 120-B of the RPC. |
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Kashmir safe for tourists, says Minister
New Delhi, February 1 State Tourism and Culture Minister Nawang Rigzin, putting the blame on the media, told IANS: "All tourist destinations are totally safe. What happened is that the media, driven by TRPs, blew things out of proportions." Rigzin was in Delhi to participate in the three-day South Asia Travel and Tour Expo recently. "The need is to dispel the sense of insecurity and the common perception of threat, and that is what we try to do," he said. The minister said several road shows and exhibitions were being organised by the state government to take the message across that Kashmir is safe for tourists. "We are doing exhibitions and road shows to make people aware that Kashmir is safe," Rigzin said, adding that the number of tourists has been high despite the disturbance. "There were 736,000 tourists in Kashmir last year, besides 450,000 pilgrims who came. Ladakh had 77,000 tourists despite the floods," Rigzin said. "We had 23,000 foreign tourists, and this year we expect more," added the minister. The state aimed at attracting one million tourists this year. The people were hopeful that tourist inflow would be higher this year. "We hope more tourists will come and that the houseboats this time are full by April," Manzoor Ahmed Wangnoo, chairman of the Houseboat Owners Association in Srinagar, told IANS. "Last year, even after all disturbances, the houseboats were all full by June 15. This time we expect these to be full earlier. It is the best feature of Kashmir's tourism and houseboats are most hospitable," he said. Tourism is one of the main economic sources of the state, which has been marred by militancy and unrest over the last two decades.
— IANS |
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Forest conservator gets state award
Leh, February 1 As a project director of the LREDA, Jigmet has supervised the electrification of 200 un-electrified remote and inaccessible hamlets of the district through solar energy installing 8,000 home-lighting systems and 5,000 solar lanterns. In 2001, Leh became the first district in the country in the achievement of the government's target of electrification of remote villages. He also supervised in designing, installing and commissioning of the first-ever state's solar power plant with the capacity of 100 KWP at the remote and backward Nyoma block in 1999 and the Durbuk block in 2005 of the district. Installation of solar power plant at the Nyoma block was the first in the northern parts of the country. Jigmet, who is one of the pioneers in the standardisation of sea buckthorn plantation, said: "The announcement of the award has boosted my morale and it will be a source of inspiration in the future to work for the development and prosperity of Ladakh". Jigmet, who is also a member of the Drafting Committee which is constituted under the Prime Minister Reconstruction Plan for the conservation of Tsokar and Tsomoriri wetlands, said he was instrumental in drafting the management plan for the Hemis High Altitude National Park and a similar plan was also under progress for the Changthang Cold Desert Sanctuary and the Karakoram Wildlife Sanctuary in collaboration with the Wildlife Institute of India. Introducing eco-tourism in Ladakh focusing protected area, the Leh Wildlife Department has established 450 Tourist Home Stay till date in the Hemis High Altitude National Park, the Karakoram Wildlife Sanctuary and the Changthang Cold Desert Sanctuary and the youth of these protected areas have been trained as eco guide. Because of his expertise in the renewal energy, Jigmet is presently entrusted with the responsibility of work of supervision in the installation of six wind-monitoring stations in Leh after the successful installation of two stations during 2007-08 and the implementation of the Ladakh Renewal Energy Initiative, a special centrally sponsored project for Leh and Kargil districts. |
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Rs 7.12 cr earned in cocoon rearing this year
Jammu, February 1 The earnings in 2010-11 were more than the Rs 2.90 crore that were made from producing 4,084 Mt of cocoons in 2008-09, Minister for Agriculture Gulam Hassan Mir said, adding that new cropping measures had yielded good outcomes. “The multiple cropping was this year successfully introduced in the province, which shows positive results,” he said at the provincial review meeting of the department here. The minister was also informed of the average price rate remaining at Rs 410 per kg this year. While stressing on the need for increasing the number of rearers across the state by spreading awareness, Mir said sericulture was an important sector that generated income and one which presents succour to the poor within the least time. There is a vast potential in this heritage sector and the district heads should utilise all resources to motivate people to opt it as an economic activity, he said. Rearing demonstration activity in every area should be undertaken for engaging interest and increasing rearers, he added. “Every year, lakhs of mulberry saplings are being planted to cover more and more area under Sericulture extension programme, which increases leafage production in the state,” he said. “So the cocoon production should also increase with the same pace,” he said on the cash crop, adding that the mulberry farms be utilised for contract rearing that would better leafage utilisation and uplift the economy of the respective areas. The minister also directed to send more progressive rearers on departmental tours outside the state to equip them with the latest technical knowledge which is at par with global standards. “We have also thrust to produce local quality disease-free seeds to cater to the needs of desiring rearers of the state to increase the production,” he added. — PTI
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JAMMU DIARY
A slip of tongue often leads to some embarrassing situation for the speaker, sometimes to such an extent that the whole meaning of his speech gets changed. Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad suffered this the other day when he was addressing mediapersons in a special “Meet the Press” organised by the Press Club. He was saying that instead of putting stone floor in the hospital he had ordered laying a grenade floor. He repeated the word grenade instead of granite many times and burst into laughter when he realised it. Then he said, “No, it is granite not grenade,” as mediapersons had a laugh at his expense. All, however, prayed that the state had seen a lot of grenades already and it was granite floors that were required. Putin US
President!
During a function organised by the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) to observe the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, Union Minister for Power Sushil Kumar Shinde while highlighting achievements of the Congress-led UPA regime, remarked that all leaders of the world had recognised India as a supreme power.
Tree as
information centre
A tree in the premises of the Forest Department on the BC road, opposite Kala Kendra, carries a board “Information
Centre”. It turned embarrassing for visitors looking for assistance to stand under the tree for some time. They thought that the department had no place to run the centre and hence put a board under a tree
(see picture). It was only later they realised that the board was kept there by
mistake. (Contributed by Jupinderjit Singh, Dinesh Manhotra and Ashutosh Sharma) |
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Laying of road to colony welcomed
Jammu, February 1 In a statement, the association said in the absence of drainage and an approach road to the colony the residents had to face hardships, especially during the rainy season. “This led to frquent demonstrations against the PWD which has finally yielded results,” it said. It further said that the remaining long-pending demand for shifting factories and a wine shop near the Sai Sahyog Marriage Hall should be conceded by the authorities concerned as these were a constant nuisance for the residents of the colony. “The ash emitted by the chimneys of factories was polluting the environment of the colony whereas the wine shop was situated en route to educational institutions,” it added. |
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DGP promotes 273 cops
Jammu, February 1 Khoda announced that these promotion orders would act as a morale booster for the officers in particular and the police force in general. “In view of the existing vacancies in promotion quota, these promotions had become necessary,” he said, adding that the promoted officers had gained a good field experience. He further said their postings in field were expected to bring better police-public relations in the field of investigations. |
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He mentioned that US President Putin had also visited India. Mediapersons were surprised and some of them observed that it was just a slip of tongue that Union Minister has mentioned Putin as the President of the US instead of Barrak Obama. Interestingly, none of the Congress leaders present at the function tried to correct Shinde.