While 74 per cent of the 150 doctors surveyed have given the thumbs-up sign to job security, salaries and opportunities to use their skills, a whopping 82 per cent are dissatisfied with the lack of promotion opportunities. The dissatisfaction levels are quite high, over 60 per cent, on issues like recognition of good work, excessive physical work and work environment.

The survey, conducted by Dr Meenakshi Sharma of the public health department, with the guidance of the PGI faculty and Dr Sonu Goel of the community medicine department, has been done to assess the satisfaction and dissatisfaction levels of medicos working at the two hospitals.

The findings of the survey have revealed that only 56 of the 150 doctors are satisfied with the recognition they receive for their work. The others feel that there is no recognition of hard work.

Only 53 doctors are satisfied with the physical work environment, with the remaining feeling that they are overburdened due to the increased inflow of patients. When it comes to promotion, 82 per cent complain of lack of avenues for growth.

A senior doctor with the PGI has said the physical work environment is not good enough as they face problems in the management of patients. “The physical load on doctors has increased due to the increasing number of patients,” the doctor has said.

Doctors with the PGI are not satisfied despite the implementation of the time-bound promotion scheme, introduced after the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations. A senior doctor with the GMCH has said most medicos feel that not many avenues of growth exist. “In spite of eligibility, we have to wait for promotion,” he has said.

Most doctors feel that there should be some scheme at the local level for rewarding and recognising good work. “No one recognises our good work and the administration has not taken any initiative to do something in this direction,” a GMCH doctor has said.

As per the study, satisfaction levels are connected to security, attitude of immediate boss, relationship between management and doctors, attention paid to suggestions, freedom to choose method of working, opportunity to use skills and salary.

The survey has also revealed that over 90 per cent of PGI doctors and 86 per cent of their GMCH counterparts are satisfied with the opportunities given to them for the use of their skills.

The satisfaction levels are low when it comes to relationship with fellow workers. Only 54.6 per cent of doctors with the PGI and 55.5 per cent of those with the GMCH are happy with it.

Chandigarh, December 26
In a flip-flop less than a day after the incident, the management of the Fun Republic at Mani Majra today withdrew its complaint of misbehaviour against Mayor Ravinder Pal Singh Pali under “political pressure”.

TR Brar, manager of the mall, yesterday lodged a complaint at the Mani Majra police station that the Mayor created a ruckus at the mall and manhandled him.

In his complaint, Brar said he received a telephone call from Pali to book four tickets at the mall for the evening show of the movie ‘Don 2’ for his family, but all seats were booked.

He further stated in the complaint that he received another telephone call from Pali at 8:30 pm, expressing dissatisfaction as his kin were unhappy with the arrangement of seats provided to his family.

He added that after threatening him over the telephone, Pali came to the mall, accompanied by at least 20 persons, and manhandled him. The ensuing ruckus ended only after the intervention of the police and the security staff at the mall.

The Fun Republic management took a U-turn today and withdrew the complaint. While Brar refused to comment when asked the reason, sources said he was under pressure from all quarters to withdraw the complaint.

Refuting the allegations, Pali said, “The allegations seem to be a figment of the manager’s imagination. I have never even seen him. I was not present at the mall yesterday.”

He elaborated, “I did book the tickets and was unhappy with the seats that they provided to my family. I just gave a telephone call to the manager, expressing dissatisfaction. The manager withdrew the complaint on his own today.”

Outgoing councillor Devinder Singh Babla was not present at the mall when the incident took place. His name was not in the complaint given to the police by the management of the mall, as was erroneously reported in these columns. “I am not linked in any way to this incident,” he said Babla. The error is regretted.

Chandigarh, December 26
A majority of the 68 suicides this year occurred in the underbelly of the city, underlining the impact of fast-paced life and increased stress on the downtrodden in particular. The maximum number of suicides were reported from slums, colonies and villages. The number of male victims was 35 and female 33.

Statistics available with the police revealed that unemployment, prolonged illness, drug abuse, family or dowry disputes and broken love affairs were the basic reasons that compelled most of the victims to take the extreme step.

The maximum number of suicides, 18 in all, occurred in areas under the jurisdiction of the Sector-34 police station, with Burail and Colony Number 5 reporting a large number of cases.

The second highest number of suicides, 15 in all, were reported in areas under the jurisdiction of the Sector-39 police station and all of those took place at Palsora and Maloya villages.

Police figures revealed that while 49 persons hanged themselves, 11 consumed poison. Three persons jumped to their death, of which two suffering from prolonged illness jumped from the fifth floor of the PGI building in separate incidents.

Two persons died by setting themselves ablaze, two committed suicide by jumping into the Sukhna Lake and one shot himself. The age group of 25 to 40 years dominated cases of suicide, with six teenagers also taking their lives.

A sensitive age, unable to handle criticism and impulsive attitude were the reasons psychiatrists believed led teenagers to take the extreme step even on trivial issues.

According to experts, the burden of under-diagnosed emotional disorders was huge. It was suggested that residents look out for mood fluctuations, sudden introvert behaviour, decreased societal interaction and staying alone.

Mohali, December 26
The investigations into the mysterious death of Chandigarh-based cardiologist Dr Deepak Kaura seem to have hit a dead end, as the mystery woman still eludes the police. Efforts to trace the other mobile numbers used by the woman to communicate with her contacts have so far not yielded any results.

The mobile connection procured on the basis of a stolen ID was recharged for a short period thrice from different shops since December 6, indicating towards it being a case of contract killing. More than one person seems to have been roped in to eliminate Dr Kaura.

The mobile call details made and received from the mobile number of the mystery woman, who was last seen with the victim, hold the key to those behind the planned murder.

“It seems that the assailants used the victim’s weakness for women to trap him. The moment he dropped his fiancée at the airport, the mystery woman got in touch with him and eliminated him on getting the right opportunity,” said sources in the police.

Dr Kaura, owner of Oxford Hospital in Sector 19, Chandigarh, was last seen with a woman in his Tata Aria car on Tuesday evening and his body was recovered the next day in a car at Dera Bassi.

The woman appeared to be 27 years of age. The police has already released a sketch of the woman. On December 10, Dr Kaura got engaged to a Canadian-based NRI and was scheduled to marry in January.

The calls details indicated maximum movement of the mystery woman in and around Sector 19.

The police sources confirmed that the assailants and the mystery woman had been keeping a watch on Dr Kaura’s movements for a few days prior to the murder.

The woman managed to come in contact with the victim without getting noticed and ended his life.

The police is questioning a number of women who were in contact with Dr Kaura. A through analysis of the call details and questioning of the women in contact with the victim are expected to give a breakthrough to the police.

Panchkula, December 26
After drawing flak over the recent theft of a newborn, the health department finally installed CCTV cameras for surveillance at the General Hospital, Sector 6, here today. The decision to install CCTVs at the hospital was taken after a one-day-old baby, Mannat, was taken away by two women on December 6.

At least seven cameras have been installed at the entry and exit points of the hospital, besides the emergency ward and outside the maternity ward on the first floor.

Senior Medical Officer Dr Usha Gupta said the hospital had decided to upgrade its internal security, adding that more cameras would be installed in the corridors, outside the emergency and maternity wards, for surveillance.

“We decided to install CCTV cameras after the recent incident. It which will help us improve security at the hospital and ensure that such incidents do not recur,” she said.

Dr Gupta said a CCTV control room would be set up in the hospital to monitor the movement of unscrupulous elements.

Another hospital official said hundreds of attendants and patients from various parts of the district visited the hospital daily and it was difficult to keep an eye on all of them at the entry and exit points.

The security at the hospital is currently being maintained by a handful of employees of the hospital. The CCTV cameras would help them keep a better vigil, he added.

Surjeet Singh, a resident of Barwala, said CCTV cameras should also be installed outside the entry gate of the emergency so that immediate help could be provided by the hospital staff to seriously-ill patients who arrived from far-off places.

Chandigarh, December 26
The municipal corporation doesn’t seem to have a yardstick to measure the performance of sanitation service providers while outsourcing work to private contractors. As for the past three years, sanitation contracts for villages have been allotted to two companies even though councillors have been complaining about their poor performance in their wards.

The issue of giving extension to the two service providers for the sanitation work will be tabled in the last general house of the outgoing team tomorrow.

The plea of the department to give three-month extension to the present sanitation providers was that the two were the only ones out of the four companies — that had applied against tenders floated three months ago for new sanitation service providers — that fulfilled the criteria set by the corporation.

However, as per clause 5 of the corporation Act, there should be at least three contractors and each should supply not more than 230 sweepers. The tenders of the other two companies were cancelled on these basis and extension was sought for the existing two service providers.

Interestingly, for the past three years, the councillors representing the villages and colonies have been raising the issue in the House of the absence of any check on the deployment of manpower by the contractors in their areas.

A majority of councillors complained that the sweepers deployed by the contractors never visited their areas on a daily basis, as a result of which there was no garbage collection system in their areas.

In fact, a number of times Congress councillor Kamlesh had suggested that the corporation should have a system of checking the attendance of outsourced sweepers, as contractors often deployed less manpower as compared to the numbers shown on paper.

Similarly, BSP councillor Ram Sumer Morya had been raising the issue of residents’ displeasure at irregular visits by sweepers in their ward, due to which they were forced to live in unhygienic conditions.

A majority of councillors complained that the sweepers deployed by the contractors never visited their areas on a daily basis, as a result of which there was poor sanitation in their areas

Panchkula, December 26
While the status of Panchkula civic body remained in litigation throughout the year, the development works in the district took a backseat. This in addition to putting residents to inconvenience had kept municipal councillors on their tenterhooks. Even as a stay by the apex court on the decision of Punjab and Haryana High Court has once again converted the municipal council into a corporation on August 10, the uncertainty over the fate of civic body still hangs in balance as the Supreme Court of India is to listen the final hearing on the issue in the coming year.

It was on October 29, 2010, a division bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court had quashed the notification issued by the Haryana government on March 17, 2010, regarding the formation of Panchkula Municipal Corporation.

The state government, however, moved the apex court against the decision, which had ordered a stay and the issue was fixed for the final hearing in January, 2012.

This, however, put a break on the development works in the town.

No contractor came forward to take part in the bid for work worth over Rs 3 crore for which MC officials floated tenders for the first time last month in this year. The works to be done included repair of parks in Sectors 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16, 17, 18 and 19, Mansa Devi Complex, Industrial Area Phase I and construction of rain shelters in many parks.

Apart from this, bids were also invited for providing and fixing of grills on various dividing roads.

The construction of dustbin enclosures and repair of a school and aanganwari centre were also to be done. The district administration even had to face the strict directions from Panchkula courts over stray cattle menace and compliance of Right to Education Act.

However, the district got its first five star hotel in Sector 3 and another resort is to be started soon in the town on the Morni road.

The residents also heaved sigh of relief when HUDA allotted 652 flats to rehabilitate slum dwellers on December 13. A total of 2,072 apartments have been constructed in the first phase.

However, the crime in the district remained unabated. The district witnessed 19 murders, three dacoit, eight robberies and nearly 50 snatching incidents.

Chandigarh, December 26
Residents continued to brave the coldwave conditions, prevailing in the tricity region during the past one week, with the night temperature hovering around 3 °C. The weather office has predicted chill during daytime as the minimum temperature is expected to increase in the next couple of days.

The city region remained colder for the fourth consecutive day today with Chandigarh recording a minimum temperature of 3.4 °C, one degree below that of Himachal Pradesh’s hill station Shimla, which recorded 4.4 °C.

There was a slight decline in the day temperature, as the maximum temperature on Monday was recorded at 19.4 °C, compared to 19.8 °C on Sunday.

Similarly, the minimum temperature rose to 3.4 °C from 3 °C recorded yesterday.

The icy winds blowing in the region are expected to continue for another couple of days.

Even though there was cloud formation in some parts of the region due to a slight deviation in the western disturbances, there was no possibility of rain in the near future, said the weatherman.

Surinder Paul, Director, UT Meteorological Department, said the cold wave conditions would persist in the region and the minimum temperature was likely to go up and the maximum temperature could go down in the next couple of days.

He said the weather would remain dry with little chance of rain in the coming two to three days.

Meanwhile, the met department has predicted a cloudy sky with mist or haze during morning and evening.

The maximum temperature on Tuesday will be around 18 °C and the minimum temperature around 4 °C.

Mohali, December 26
A day after a well-organised racket of human organ trafficking was busted, investigations by the Lucknow police have revealed that the members of the gang operated by manipulating the documents of the sanctioning authority (outside the state) concerned in such a coordinated manner that it raised little doubt about the credentials of the documents.

Lucknow DIG DK Thakur said though the name of the hospital surfaced during the suspects’ questioning, the hospitals had no role to play in the human organ trafficking case.

“After preparing the forged documents of the sanctioning authority, the gang members used to manipulate the verification documents sent by the hospital concerned. The gang had contacts in the office concerned of the civil surgeon or commissioner, who used to give certification to the fake documents. The entire exercise appeared genuine,” said the DIG.

The gang members have confessed to having lured at least seven such unsuspecting donors who were presented as kidney recipients’ relatives. “The verification sent by Shivalk Hospital led to the unravelling of the racket. The sanctioning documents were found to be false and the missing donor was traced with the help of the hospital authorities,” said the DIG.

The police is on the lookout for the other persons who had helped manipulate the documents of the sanctioning authority. The police has not ruled out the possibility of the trade being run in other states.

The police has already arrested four persons — Harishankar Maurya, Dilip Nigam, Vinod Dubey and Harish Prajapati — who used to lure innocent victims and bring them to private hospitals to sell their kidneys.

Chandigarh, December 26
Local residents have been facing scheduled and unscheduled power cuts due to a shortfall in power supply from various central power generation plants to the UT electricity department.

Residents of Sectors 16, 19, 20, 22, 35, 45, Burail, 46, 48, Dhanas and Mani Majra have been facing unscheduled power cuts varying from one to four hours for the past few days.

Mohit Sharma, a Sector 16 resident, said they had to face power cuts on Sunday and Monday mornings. These were not scheduled cuts and had spoiled their daily routine, he added.

Also, Aman Deep Singh, a Sector 20 resident, said they had been facing power cuts in the afternoon and evening hours for the past four days. It is quite unusual to face power cuts at this time of the year, that too daily, he added.

He said he had bought DVDs of some movies but the power outages ruined his plans.

MP Singh, Superintending Engineer of the electricity department, said various central power generation plants like Chamera-I, Anta, Bhakra, Singrauli, etc. were not working properly, which had resulted in a decline in the supply of power to Chandigarh.

He added that the situation in the entire northern region was bad. He said they would wait for a few more days and if the situation did not improve, they would announce scheduled cuts.

Various central power generation plants like Chamera-I, Anta, Bhakra, Singrauli, etc. are not working properly, which has resulted in a decline in the supply of power to Chandigarh. — MP Singh, SE, UT electricity department

Zirakpur, December 26
The Zirakpur Municipal Council (MC) today removed around 45 hoardings, put up by various political parties, from Baltana, Zirakpur and surrounding areas. The drive had been conducted on the directions of the SDM, Dera Bassi.

According to sanitary inspector Santosh Kumari, the hoardings and banners were put up along the highway, inner areas of Zirakpur, Baltana, Pabhat and Lohgarh and were removed after doing video graphing.

Chandigarh, December 26
A police team that went to Mewat to find clues into the double murder case of teenaged siblings Gaurang and Kavita returned empty-handed. With the motive of murder still not clear, the case is turning out to be a tough nut for the UT police to crack.

The police had dispatched a team to the native village of the two to get any lead into the case two days ago. Both Kavita and Gaurang were found brutally stabbed to death at their Sector-41 residence on December 16.

Chandigarh, December 26
The Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh NCC Directorate will be sending a contingent of 156 cadets, including 36 girls, to participate in the Republic Day Camp in New Delhi. Cadets from 17 directorates across the country will attend the month-long camp.

The cadets, who are in the final stages of preparation and training, are schedule to leave for the national capital on December 30. — TNS

In reference to news item “A smooth year sans major controversy”, carried on December 26 in these columns, it is clarified that under subhead “Probe against PGI chemist” it has been inadvertently stated that the owner of Aditya Medicos was arrested.

Girls perform giddha during the youth festival at Panjab University in Chandigarh.

Girl students strike a pose with their certificates at the convocation. Tribune photographs

Chandigarh, December 26
Just like many preceding years, 2011 was also a “newsy” trail of highs and lows with PU oscillating between credit and shame day in day out.

Chandigarh, December 26
In a classic case of bureaucratic red tape, the UT education department even after one month of being directed by education secretary, DPI (S) Sandeep Hans has failed to initiate any disciplinary action against district education officer (DEO) Chanchal Singh for unexplained and non-procedural destruction of documents pertaining to a complaint against registrar education, Arjun Dev.

While repeated attempts to contact Sandeep Hans proved futile, the copy of letter shot to Hans by director higher education DK Tiwari on November 4, 2011, confirmed that the education secretary had ordered disciplinary action against Chanchal Singh and other department officials who were found guilty at different levels of inquiry.

A local RTI activist had in a complaint to the education secretary had accused registrar Arjun Dev of misleading the department by availing LTC benefits for his son even though he was away participating in a fencing tournament during that period. He demanded a probe against Chanchal Singh and fencing team in charge Charanjit Kaur for making up expenditure details, as he had been provided with two different copies of expenditure details in response to two different RTI applications.

During the course of inquiry, it was found that one of the expenditure statements, which was key evidence, was destroyed in the presence of district education officer Chanchal Singh and new statement was made to put in file.

“While both statements amounted to Rs 38,840, the first statement had been destroyed without following any procedures, as it raised many doubts and questions,” read the letter.