Chandigarh, February 4
When it comes to infant mortality rate (IMR), affluent Haryana and backward Bihar have the dubious distinction of sharing the 28th spot in the country. Both states have reported 48 deaths per 1,000 births in the latest Sample Registration System (SRS-2010) released by the Central Government recently.

Though the IMR in Haryana has come down by three points (from 51 in 2009) to 48 now, the figure is still alarming and above the national average of 47 deaths per live births despite tall claims of the Hooda government about providing quality healthcare to the residents.

Sources said low weight, in a majority of cases less than one kg, was mainly to be blamed for infant mortality in the state. The low birth weight babies have a greater risk of developing hypothermia, birth and peri-natal asphyxia, respiratory distress and septicaemia increasing their chances of mortality, the sources asserted.

Goa has the lowest IMR of 10 deaths per 1,000 followed by Kerala which reported 13 infants deaths per 1,000. On the other hand, Madhya Pradesh reported the highest infant deaths of 62 per 1,000 live births followed by UP and Odisha which reported 61 deaths per 1,000 live births.

The sources said to tackle the high mortality rate, the Haryana Government had accelerated the pace of the setting up of the Special Newborn Care Unit (SNCU) in all 21 districts of the state. Currently, only six high-focus districts — Gurgaon, Faridabad, Yamunanagar, Mewat, Ambala and Kaithal — have the SNCUs, which have yielded good results in bringing down the infant mortality.

The SNCUs are equipped with latest equipment such as radiant warmers, oxygen concentrator, infusion pump and apnea monitor to treat low birth weight babies.The survival rate of the low-weight babies with complications is over 50 per cent if they are brought to the SNCU on time, a senior Health Department functionary told The Tribune.

In fact, the SNCUs at Panchkula, Palwal, Bhiwani and Narnaul are likely to be commissioned by the end of the current financial year, the sources said, adding that such units at other district headquaters are also in the pipeline.

Karnal, February 4
The EDUSAT programme, country's first broadband network for ensuring dissemination of high-quality education to school students and teachers from source schools, is virtually grounded in Haryana.

The programme has been a success in Kerala revolutionising classroom teaching through the GSAT-3 satellite launched by the ISRO for exclusive use of education sector and interactive IP-based technology.

The process of giving a decent burial to the programme started when Director, School Education, directed all the District Education Officers to convert the EDUSAT period from Grade VI to XII to library period in November 2010.

The government had invested crores on EDUSAT connectivity in schools, providing for infrastructure. The programme was started in over 450 schools without visualising the vital factors like power situation, availability of trained and skilled staff, preparation of quality teaching material and networking problems and consequently, it suffered many setbacks. The recent satellite shift by the ISRO, which led to the disconnection of EDUSAT, further plagued the programme.

The set-up for EDUSAT, which comprises a well-carpeted wi-fi room covered with black curtains, LCD, projector, computer, battery and dish, costs over Rs 10 lakhs. In Karnal alone, there are 25 EDUSAT set-ups, one each in DIET and DEO office, 5 in block offices and 17 in senior secondary schools with science, while rest 68 senior secondary schools were connected with the DTH service.

The government had announced a subsidy of Rs 1 lakh to aided schools for the EDUSAT connectivity.

Right from the start, the power crisis in the state badly hit the programme, especially in rural areas, and efforts were made to overcome the problems by providing batteries to the schools.

Due to shortage of teachers in some schools, Sanskrit teachers were appointed in place of Maths teachers under the EDUSAT programme, which created a farcical situation, due to which the students suffered, said Krishan Kumar Nirman, a government schoolteacher.

Special teachers were not made available and there was chronic shortage of trained professionals. The situation was so alarming that walk-in-interviews were held in June for recruiting junior engineers and computer teachers.

The perennial networking and transmission problems and delay in preparation of quality teaching material also acted as an impediment in successful implementation of the programme, while the problem of repair of the system continued. The government has now provided an engineer for each district.

However, Education Minister Geeta Bhukal said today that there are some problems, but batteries and generators have been provided in the schools where EDUSAT has been set up and the programme was back on track.

The Chief Minister has also said the EDUSAT programme had received a temporary setback due to change in the satellite channel, which would be sorted out, and to meet the shortage of batteries, 14,000 batteries are being purchased.

Chandigarh, February 4
In a major relief to “erstwhile” landowners whose land was acquired for the development of two sectors in Karnal Urban Estate, a Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court has set six months’ deadline for the State of Haryana and other authorities to advertise plots for the oustees.

The significance of the judgment by the Bench of Justice Hemant Gupta and Justice AN Jindal can be gauged from the fact that as many as 28 petitions filed by the erstwhile landlords have been decided by the order.

As the petitions filed by Paramjit Singh and other petitioners against the State of Haryana and other respondents came up for hearing, the Division Bench was told their land was acquired for development of residential and commercial area by the Haryana Urban Development Authority in Sectors 32 and 33 of Karnal Urban Estate.

The petitioners claim that they were entitled to residential plots, being oustees consequent to acquisition of their land.

Taking up the petitions, the Bench observed: “Counsel for the respondents do not dispute the right of the agriculturists, such as the petitioners, whose land has been acquired for the purpose of development of urban area, for allotment of plots in terms of the policies formulated by HUDA….

“Counsel for the respondents states within six months, the HUDA shall advertise the plots in Sector 32 and Sector 33, Karnal, including the plots for the oustees. The petitioners can submit their applications in response to the advertisement to be issued and such applications shall be considered in accordance with law.”

Before parting with the order, the Bench asserted, “We dispose of the present writ petitions with a direction to the respondents to advertise the plots, including plots for the oustees in Sector 32 and 33, Karnal, within a period of six months, that is not later than July 31. The respondents shall consider the applications of the oustees according to their entitlement and eligibility in accordance with law”.

Jind, February 4
The district education department has issued a show-cause notice to the principal of Government Senior Secondary School at Nagura village after reports of students being asked to cut or collect wood for preparing the mid-day meal surfaced.

Reports state that teachers of the school, who are responsible for getting the mid-day meal prepared under the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan, had been taking help of the students to get fuel wood for school kitchen. Though a gas cylinder has been provided to the school, several students of the school were found collecting wood and cutting the wooden logs to be used in the traditional fire chulha (stove) at the school. The practice has reportedly been going on for the past several weeks.

It is reported that this was done to save money on the gas cylinder or to take gas cylinders for personal use. Engaging the students for manual labour and deploying them on activities other than education and studies is illegal.

School principal Surender Mor claimed that it was only a part of the alternative arrangements as the gas cylinder of the school kitchen was empty and had been sent for refilling.

It is reported that several lakhs were being spent by the education department on providing the mid-day meal to the students at the school and a separate budget has been earmarked for the providing the facility of a stove and gas cylinder.

The officials of the district education department claimed that there had been no problem regarding the supply of gas cylinders as refill facility was available with all the school on urgent basis. “Help of the students could be taken in case of emergency, but engaging them in manual labour is wrong,” said an official of the education department.

The school authorities have been asked to submit a reply in this regard and an action would follow if anyone is found guilty, he added.

Sirsa, February 4
The schools causing roadblocks in the success of measles- immunisation campaign of health authorities have fallen in line and now they are cooperating with the authorities in ensuring vaccination of all children studying there.

As many as 14 leading schools of Sirsa, including three government schools, had refused to cooperate with the health authorities in the campaign and as a result 20 to 30 pe rcent of their children had been left out when the teams of the Health Department went there to vaccinate children.

The schools had taken the plea that they had sought written consent of the parents, which was not forthcoming.

This despite the fact that the authorities had sent them invites on behalf of the Deputy Commissioner and the Civil Surgeon, informing them that the vaccines were completely safe and the drive was of national importance.

The Tribune had highlighted the issue in a news item “Leading Sirsa schools create hurdles in success of campaign” published in these columns yesterday.

The schools agreed to get all their children vaccinated once the news appeared in The Tribune.

“We vaccinated all remaining children in these schools in a repeat activity carried out there on Friday,” said Dr Viresh Bhushan, Deputy Civil Surgeon, Sirsa, who holds the charge of immunisation.

Meanwhile, Dr Bhushan said Deputy Commissioner J Ganeshan had also summoned the names of the schools, which had shown reluctance in vaccination.

Anti-measles vaccinations are being given to children in the age group of nine months to 10 years under “Measles Catch-Up Campaign” currently under way in 10 districts of Haryana, including Sirsa.

The campaign funded by the WHO ends on February 8 and is aimed at removing measles from the globe.

Chandigarh, February 4
The Haryana Police has declared 2012 as the “Year of Technology” and the “Year of Health”.

While presiding over the monthly crime review meeting of district police chiefs and other senior officers, Ranjeev Dalal, DGP, said more attention would be paid to using technology and maintaining the health standards of police personnel this year.

Dalal directed the SPs to step up efforts to curb crime and review the progress made in crime investigation in their respective districts everyday. He also gave them targets for crime investigation for February.

He said during a similar meeting next month, those district police chiefs, who show good results in curbing the crime would be appreciated, but action would be taken against those whose performance was found to be poor.

The DGP said, besides the IGPs, he would himself examine every police station to cut down the crime rate. Dalal expressed satisfaction over the use of Internet by 80 per cent of police personnel. He said all DSPs and officers up to the level of SHOs would be given laptops.

Fatehabad, February 4
The Additional District and Sessions Judge, LN Jindal, today sentenced the rapist of a three-year-old girl to imprisonment for life.

The accused, Upender Mohanto, son of a migrant labourer, Vaidnara Mohunto, had raped the three-year-old daughter of the widow of a Bihari labourer at Kulan in the district on October 13, 2010. The court also imposed fine of Rs 5,000 on the accused. — TNS

Rewari, February 4
Additional District and Sessions Judge JR Chauhan yesterday sentenced Sunita and her lover, Jagjit, to imprisonment for life for the gruesome murder of a six-year-old boy, Happy, son of their neighbour, Rakesh, in April 2010 at Lisan village, 30 km from here.

Besides the Judge has also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on each of the two convicts.

According to the prosecution, Sunita, who was a graduate and a daughter of an ex-serviceman, had an affair with a village youth, Jagjit. Her neighbour, Rakesh’s wife was averse to her intimacy with Jagjit and she admonished Sunita for it.

This infuriated Sunita who conspired to eliminate her neighbour’s son, Happy. At her behest, Happy was kidnapped on April 3, 2010, by Jagjit who then killed him and dumped the body in the forest area of the village from where it was recovered by the police the next day (April 4, 2010).

Simultaneously, Jagjit informed Sunita as well. The police, which registered a case of murder, destruction of evidence, abduction and criminal conspiracy, remained clueless about the culprits for several weeks after which the case was entrusted to the CIA police and the cyber cell.

Eventually when call details of the mobile phones of Jagjit and Sunita provided a clue, both were arrested on May 31, 2010, following which they confessed to the crime during interrogation. Subsequently, the case was put up in the court for trial.