B A T H I N D A    E D I T I O N

Kataria says Amarinder remained inaccessible
Abohar, March 11
In a frontal attack on the PPCC chief Captain Amarinder Singh, a veteran Congress leader and a former PCC chief Virender Kataria today said that one of the major reasons for the Congress defeat in the recent Punjab assembly elections was the former's inaccessibility for the common people.

Doc for legalising capitation fees in medical colleges
Bathinda, March 11
The capitation fees charged in private medical colleges should be legalised to mitigate corruption prevalent in these colleges, said a member of the Board of Governors (BOG), Medical Council of India, Dr Purshottam Lal, while inviting solutions to the problem from the delegates present at the Northern Cardiology Network Summit 2012 held at Adesh Institute of Medical Science and Research (AIMSR) today.

NGO immerses ashes of unidentified bodies
Abohar, March 11
Finding that the kin of 20 citizens had not turned up to collect the ashes of their dear ones and that the ashes of 30 other unidentified persons were lying in the lockers at the cremation ground here, the Nar Seva Narayan Seva resolved to immerse the same at Haridwar.

Boy kills father, consumes poison
Muktsar, March 11
An alleged drug addict killed his 58-year-old father after hitting him with an iron rod on his head at Warring village near here. Later, the accused also consumed some poisonous substance and is said to be critical.

Farmer commits suicide 
Bathinda, March 11
A debt-ridden farmer committed suicide by jumping before a train near Maur Mandi. The deceased has been identified as 70-year- old Harnail Singh, a resident of Kuttiwal Khurd village.

KVK gives tips on bee farming
Ferozepur, March 11
To give impetus to the vocation of bee keeping, the Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) organised a certified training session for the farm women, rural youths and farmers who were keen to take up this occupation as a career.

 Kataria says Amarinder remained inaccessible
SP Sharma
Tribune News Service

Abohar, March 11
In a frontal attack on the PPCC chief Captain Amarinder Singh, a veteran Congress leader and a former PCC chief Virender Kataria today said that one of the major reasons for the Congress defeat in the recent Punjab assembly elections was the former's inaccessibility for the common people.

Kataria said that Amarinder remained out of reach of the common people for the past five years after the party lost the election in 2007. He was inaccessible even for the senior leaders of the party as some tainted persons controlled the headquarters of the party in Punjab.

On the other hand, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, his son and Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal and his MP wife Harsimrat Kaur Badal were always moving among the people to listen to their problems.

Kataria said that instead of bringing the real cause of the party's defeat to the notice of the Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Amarinder Singh was accusing the PPP and the BSP for being responsible for the defeat of the party candidates. If that was correct, what steps Amarinder took to neutralize their influence, he asked.

He regretted that over the years, the Congress in Punjab had eroded its base among the weaker sections and the minorities. The ruling SAD fielded about 10 Hindus and all of them won and they also won many of the 34 seats that were reserved for the Scheduled Caste community.

Kataria said that Sonia Gandhi should convene a meeting of the PPCC to ascertain the cause of defeat of the party instead of going by the explanation given by Amarinder Singh. 

 Doc for legalising capitation fees in medical colleges
Megha Mann
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, March 11
The capitation fees charged in private medical colleges should be legalised to mitigate corruption prevalent in these colleges, said a member of the Board of Governors (BOG), Medical Council of India, Dr Purshottam Lal, while inviting solutions to the problem from the delegates present at the Northern Cardiology Network Summit 2012 held at Adesh Institute of Medical Science and Research (AIMSR) today.

In a candid talk with the delegates present, Dr Lal said, “All of us know that private medical colleges cannot be run without capitation fees as there is no other source of income. Legalising it will help government have control over this fee structure, which is being charged exorbitantly. It would also put an end to unholy bargaining and find a midway.”

He added that avenues for generation of cardiologists in the country are limited. “Unless and until we get the desired number of professionals to fight against the ever increasing coronary heart diseases, we cannot win the battle, He said and advocated formulation of a liberal policy for capitation fees.

Adding to this, Padma Shree Prof (Dr) Kamal K Sethi, who spent two decades teaching at Delhi’s GB Pant Hospital, said government colleges do not have enough infrastructure to support super-speciality education in it. “The government has not even increased seats in super-speciality courses for the past many years, leave alone the question of augmenting the infrastructure and services,” he pointed out

Talking about ethics in medical practices, Dr Lal said drug manufacturing companies often complaint of their inability to satiate doctors with gifts and overseas trips in lieu of prescribing their medicines. “There should be a reasonable referral fees fixed so that the companies are not burdened with funds to please doctors and the same is used for manufacturing drugs and equipment that are within the reach of the common man,” said Dr Lal who has been named as Creator of Affordable Healthcare by Express Healthcare, a leading health magazine.

A native of village Patto Hira Singh (now in Moga district), Dr Purshottam’s village did not have electricity connection when he was a child. One of the six siblings, he lost his father to an electric shock in the first year of his MBBS. Narrating this, said deliberated upon the need to strengthen the rural healthcare system. Availability of quality health services is the right of every Indian and they should get it.

He said that extending the MBBS course term to six years was not a wise decision. Supporting him, Dr Sethi said that already a medical post-graduate spends ten years to gain degree and delaying it by yet another year would mean weaning away bright students from medical education. “It would not be justified to force students to work in rural pockets. This dedication should come from within. We need to have better primary and secondary care centres. The states like UP and Madhya Pradesh fare badly as they do not have even a single quality tertiary care institute,” said Dr Sethi. 

 NGO immerses ashes of unidentified bodies

Abohar, March 11
Finding that the kin of 20 citizens had not turned up to collect the ashes of their dear ones and that the ashes of 30 other unidentified persons were lying in the lockers at the cremation ground here, the Nar Seva Narayan Seva resolved to immerse the same at Haridwar.

 Boy kills father, consumes poison
Tribune News Service

Muktsar, March 11
An alleged drug addict killed his 58-year-old father after hitting him with an iron rod on his head at Warring village near here. Later, the accused also consumed some poisonous substance and is said to be critical.

The police said the incident took place this afternoon, when Krishan Kumar, an assistant lineman at Power Grid in Bhuttiwala village, was sitting in the lobby of his house and his son Sunil Kumar, perturbed over being refused the money to buy drugs, hit his father with an iron rod on his head and killed him.

Immediately after killing his father, Sunil also consumed some poisonous substance.

He was first taken to the local Adesh hospital. But later, due to his deteriorating health, he was shifted to Faridkot.

A case of murder has been registered in this regard at the Bariwala police station.

 Farmer commits suicide 
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, March 11
A debt-ridden farmer committed suicide by jumping before a train near Maur Mandi. The deceased has been identified as 70-year- old Harnail Singh, a resident of Kuttiwal Khurd village.

As per Paramjit Singh, in-charge of the Railway Police at Maur, the farmer got serious injuries after he jumped before a speeding train near the Maur railway station. He was rushed to the Maur Civil Hospital from where he was referred to the Bathinda Civil Hospital where he died.

He said that inquest proceedings under section 174 of the CrPc has been initiated in this connection.

The in-charge said the kin of the farmer said he had taken nearly Rs 2 lakh in loan from the land mortgage bank around ten years ago. The loan increased to more than Rs 12 lakhs.

Now the bank officials were making rounds of the house of the farmer demanding that the money be returned. The family members said the farmer got upset and committed suicide, the in-charge added. 

 KVK gives tips on bee farming
Anirudh Gupta

Ferozepur, March 11
To give impetus to the vocation of bee keeping, the Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) organised a certified training session for the farm women, rural youths and farmers who were keen to take up this occupation as a career.

Dr Yuvraj Singh Pandha, assistant professor (Plant Protection) said that more than 25 trainees, including three farm women, participated in the session.

Pandha said there was an increase in demand for training in beekeeping as this profession has become very lucrative due to an increase in requirement for honey and other related products obtained from beekeeping in national and international market.

He said that increase in processing facilities and floral availability besides the conducive environment available here were some of the other factors that have acted as a catalyst behind the growing adoption of this occupation among the rural people. Pandha said that trainees were given both, theoretical and practical information on the management of honey bee colonies of Apis mellifera in different seasons.

He said that apart from honey extraction, information on utility and extraction of royal jelly, bee venom and pollen was also provided.

During the training session, the girl trainees, specially practiced the preparation of a pollen substitute, wax purification and honey processing. Special emphasis was given on the management of bee enemies like wax moth and mite.

Pandha further said that 50 per cent subsidy was being given on the purchase of bee hives, bees and necessary equipment required for starting this occupation, adding that this kind of certified vocational training for the beginners is imparted by the KVK twice a year. Besides, an advance training course on bee keeping has also been planned for the trainees, he added.