Jalandhar, August 19
Health services provided under the various components of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and the National Family Planning Programme have been badly hit in the health centres of the city and the periphery due to the ongoing strike by the NRHM employees.

Demanding regularisation of their services and shifting to the Department of Health Services, over 450 NRHM employees, including Homeopathic and Ayurvedic doctors, have been observing the strike as a part of a state-wide agitation launched 12 days ago.

Besides the NRHM schemes, including the crucial Janani Suraksha Yojana, Surakshit Janepa Yojana and Iron Deficiency Control Programme, the performance of various population control schemes have also been hampered as implementation of such schemes at the ground level largely lies with the paramedical staff employed under the NRHM.

“I have been visiting the doctor posted in the nearby dispensary for the last few days to get iron tablets, but to no avail. I called her up today and she told me that the doctors are on strike and it would take not less than 4-5 days for them to return to the dispensary,” said Baljeet Kaur of Daroli Kalan village, near here.

Dr NK Duggal, District Family Welfare Officer (DFWO) and in-charge of NRHM, Jalandhar Cell, said, “The job of institutional deliveries, mobile medical units and daily reporting is largely performed by the NRHM employees. Therefore, all these crucial services have come to a halt.”

“The Mobile Medical Units (MMU) project, launched under the mission to provide healthcare services to the interiors, also come to a halt as the entire staff working in such units was recruited under the NRHM,” Dr Duggal added. The component worst affected is the daily performance report, which has to be submitted everyday by the NRHM employees from all the health centres to the state NRHM office.

Sanjeev Kumar, Senior-Vice President, district unit of the NRHM Employees Association, Punjab, said the employees would intensify the agitation if the government fails to concede their demands.

Jalandhar, August 19
Even as the members of Nigam Safai Mazdoor Union called off the strike today, no garbage was lifted from the city streets for the second consecutive day thus turning the streets into dumping grounds.

The strike was postponed to September 7.

And the workers would be on the job from tomorrow morning.

There was no door-to-door collection of garbage and the residents on their own threw the waste out of their houses in any adjoining vacant plot or empty stretch of road outside their colonies. All city markets wore a shabby look as the heaps of filth turned even bigger today.

Even the MC’s own building was not cleaned as the employees working under a private contractor for upkeep of the three-storey building also refused to work and joined hands with the members of the striking union. The corridors, staircases and rooms of the officials and staff were littered and tables had stains imparting a very unwelcoming look.

The employees said it was extremely difficult to work in the office with mess all around. They said since the Commissioner, Assistant Commissioner and SEs were away for an official meeting, they had nobody to express their grouse.

The female staff were upset over the fact that the toilets were stinking and said they had a tough time throughout the day.

The Nigam Safai Mazdoor Union held a demonstration in front of the MC Administrative Complex since morning. At 1 pm, Mayor Rakesh Rathour and Chief Parliamentary Secretary KD Bhandari turned up to convey the message of Local Bodies Minister Tikshan Sud that a meeting of all safai unions from across the state had been called at Chandigarh on September 7 to discuss the issue.

Chandan Grewal, president of the union, said their main demand was rollback of the Solid Waste Management Project and regularisation of few contractual staff members.

“The private safai employees deployed in MC’s building throughout the day are being paid just Rs 3000 a month while nearly 2150 regular employees of MC are drawing above Rs 10,000 monthly”, he said in their favour.

Expressing his helplessness, SE (O&M) AS Dhailwal said the city was generating around 480 to 500 metric tonnes and nearly 1000 metric tonnes would have got strewed on city streets since yesterday.

Jalandhar, August 19
People expressed their unhappiness over the garbage notbeing lifted for two days. The Jalandhar Tribune spoke to city residents on the issue.

It has been so embarrassing for us when we see customers walk past our shop in Sheikhan Bazaar with a handkerchief on their face. There are NRI customers who will not turn up again and will return with such a bad impression about the market.

Buta Singh Sachdeva
President of the Cloth Merchant Association

I have to walk past the bus stand daily on way to the office. While the area usually remains dirty, it has been the worst since the past two days. The Rama Mandi market which is located close to our house too is littered with rotten fruits and vegetables emitting foul smell. The administration needs to tighten the noose around the safai karamcharis.~

Jyoti Sharma
Employed with a private company

Garbage had not been lifted from our house for the past two days. Since there is so much dampness in the air these days, it was smelling badly. I was concerned about my children’s health and hygiene, so I had to pay my maid some extra money to throw it off at some dump.

Sonia Chopra
Resident of Kalia Colony

When I came to the market today, I was welcomed with heaps of garbage all around the lanes of Basti Nau area. I inquired and came to know about the strike. While it is of not much problem to us, I really wonder how the residents of the area have been managing in this condition.

Ravinder Dhir
Sports industrialist

Jalandhar August 19
She wanted to live till she breathed her last, for the sake of her two kids. But clutches of death did not allow her wish to be fulfilled.

Jyoti, a 28-year-old, woman belonging to Mehta village in Amritsar and married in Transport Nagar in Jalandhar left her two children motherless, when she succumbed to burns at Ludhiana’s DMC hospital today.

The deceased struggled for many days after her drug addict husband, allegedly set her ablaze in their Jalandhar-based residence on the night of July 27 last.

The unfortunate mother was admitted to DMC after sustaining 70 per cent burns. She fought the infection bravely but could not recover.

“Her poor children have been orphaned. Their father never bothered about them. He was on smack. Jyoti used to run a shop make both ends meet. I don’t know what to do. I spent Rs 2 lakhs on her treatment but she could not survive,” said K.S. Pathak, her father, crying inconsolably.

Too young to understand the tragedy that struck them, Jyoti’s two children, four-year-old Shivam and two-year-old Gunnu, kept asking their grandmother to console their grandfather.

Even the hardest of heart could have cried after seeing the innocent children, who were oblivious of the fact that they had lost their mother.

“These children do not know that they have nobody to look after them if something happens to us. We are already old. What will happen to them after us,” said Pathak.

Recalling the unfortunate day, when he had married his daughter to Vipan Kumar six years ago, Pathak said he never owned any responsibility of his family.

“I used to buy everything for my daughter and her children. He never earned a penny. After getting her admitted to this hospital, he and his family disappeared. I bore her medical treatment expenses. It is a curse to be a father of a daughter if she is married to a man like him,” said Pathak.

PK Jaiswar adds from Amritsar In her earlier statement, the deceased had said her clothes accidentally caught fire while she was boiling milk for her children. She, however, changed her statement on Thursday and said her husband Vipin Kumar, who was a drug addict, had set her on fire on July 29. She said she and her husband often fought as she used to stop him from taking drugs.

According to sources, the police did not register a case earlier on the request of the victim’s parents.

Jalandhar, August 19
The Municipal Corporation Jalandhar has marked an inquiry into the false ceiling collapse incident that occurred in the corridor of the new complex yesterday.

Commissioner MC BS Dhaliwal, in front of whose office the incident had taken place, has marked the inquiry with Assistant Commissioner DP Bhardwaj. Bhardwaj, when asked about any immediate findings, said that he could not comment as of now. “I need to first check the specifications of materials quoted by the contractor with those actually used”, he responded.

Jalandhar, August 19
Two government primary schools in the busy Central Town and Kot Amin Khan areas here are examples of the district administration’s apathy as far as providing good educational facilities is concerned. Student strength at both the schools has not exceeded 10 in the past more than five years.

According to the information gathered under the Right to Information Act, 2010, the students of any government school-with a student strength of less than 10, have to be shifted to other schools within a vicinity of 3 km.

Jalandhar, August 19
In a major development, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has finally agreed to give its land to Kendriya Vidyalaya No 4 situated in Jalandhar Cantt. The move has brought cheer to the students and teachers of this region. This decades’ old school was “temporarily closed” after Army authorities at Headquarters Western Command had refused to give 26.5 acres of land. A decision in this regard was taken by the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangthan (KVS), Jammu Region five months ago, following which no fresh admissions took place during the current academic session.

The Tribune had first reported the “temporary closure” of the school on April 1 in these columns after which the MoD had taken notice and assured the school authorities of some positive outcome.

Principal of the school, A.K. Loomra, thanked the Army for taking timely action in the saving the school. “The MoD has allowed us to use 7.5 acres of land out of the total 26.5 acres where the school is presently situated. Even fresh admissions to Class-I have been done”, he said adding that this decision has saved the future of over 1300 students of the school.

Loomra also added that a committee of officials from KVS, Jammu Region, and a senior army officer from Western Command had visited the school premises for a survey of the land. “The committee has sent its report to Headquarters Western Command which will be further forwarded to the MoD”, he said.

Further sharing his anxiety and fears during all these months, the principal said, “Not only the school authorities even the students and their parents were in a dilemma as to what will happen in case the school was closed permanently later. But, we are happy that the Army authorities have stood by us and taken a decision for the welfare of the students.”

At present, there are total four KVs in Jalandhar Cantt. While three KVs in Jalandhar Cantt, namely, number 1, 2 and 3 have their own land, buildings and infrastructure, KV No 4 has been functioning from its old building situated on defence land. As per norms, all KVs across the country are started after a final approval from the HRD Ministry, the KV Sangthan and final availability of land, mostly by the Army authorities under the MoD. And since the KVs are situated in cantonments, they are primarily meant for the children of the employees of armed forces, Central Government jobs and paramilitary forces.

Jalandhar, August 18
With humans encroaching upon open space, snakes are frequently being found in the densely populated localities of the city.

If records pertaining to the incidents of snakebite available with the local civil hospital are to be believed, the mortality rate is higher than usual.

Dr MB Bali, in charge, Civil Hospital’s Trauma Centre, Jalandhar, said about 46 snakebite cases had been reported in the past three months.

“At least 10 patients have died of snakebite since May. Condition of 30 patients is stated to be critical and they need to be put on ventilators,” Dr Bali added.

“It is not mandatory for private clinics to notify the death of these 10 patients to district health authorities. The figure could have been higher had the patients, who died during the past three months in the city’s periphery and those admitted to private hospitals, would have been added to the existing figure,” Dr Bali added.

Admitting that the mortality rate due to snakebite is considerably higher than other epidemics, Dr RL Bassan said instead of reporting to quacks or god men, attendants of patients should go to the nearest hospital or dial 108 for ambulance.

Dr HK Singla, Civil Surgeon, Jalandhar, said polyvalent anti-snake venom had been provided to all hospitals and community health centres across the district. This would be provided to patients free of cost.

Jalandhar, August 18
With an aim to churn out rural sports talent, the Punjab Sports Department is all set to organise Block Level Rural Tournament from August 22 to 27.

This tournament would be held in ten blocks of the district.

The Centre-sponsored tournament would be held under the Panchayat Yuva aur Krida Abhiyan, which is focused at bringing the sports persons from grassroot level to limelight.

The tournaments would be held at Lohian, Bhogpur, Jalandhar East, Adampur, Nurmahal, Jalandhar West, Nakodar, Phillaur, Shahkot and Rurka Kalan blocks. The tournaments would be held in the discipline of athletics, wrestling, kho-kho, basketball, volleyball, weight lifting, kabaddi, football and hockey.

District Sports Officer Rakesh Kaushal said, “Rural youth from all the blocks will be participating in this tournament.

The target of these games is to cover all the villages falling under all the ten blocks of the district. We have made all arrangements for conducting various tournaments at village level.”

He said the winning team of a particular village would get a cash award of Rs 24,000, the second runners-up would get Rs 12, 000 and the third runners-up would receive Rs 4,000.