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Poor architecture of new OPD hits patient care at GMSH-16
Chandigarh, September 25 The building does not lay much emphasis on patient convenience as patients will have to brave rain and sun to approach the building from the road in the absence of a shed. The building took six years to be completed. Since no proper porch is planned at the new building, the main entry gate is situated at least 30 ft away from the road. It will be a nightmarish experience for patients with orthopaedic problems. No space has been provided to station trolleys and wheelchairs at the entry point of the building. The roof of two small porches provided on the front and back doors of the building have been converted into balconies without providing any access to these. The work on the project, which includes a six-storeyed building meant to house outdoor patients of five departments, an operating theatre and many more facilities, was started in 2006. The work was to be completed by July 31, 2009. However, the deadline could not be met and was extended many times. The hospital authorities, however, decided to shift its OPD services to the new building last week and now the departments of Orthopaedics, Medicine and Dermatology have been working from the new building. The faults in the building, however, have already started creating problems for patients. Several of them have brought the issue to the notice of the staff. The road leading to the new building is situated at a distance of 30 ft from the entry gate. Attendants of patients requiring wheelchairs or trolleys will have to ferry them from braving heat and rain as no porch or shed has been provided on the 30-foot-long path. The main entry gate, which has to cater to around 2,500 patients in different OPDs everyday, is just 6 ft wide. Many of them are accompanied by attendants as well. The same gate will be used for the exit purpose also. The same door will be used to ferry those requiring wheelchairs and trolleys. Rough estimates show that the door will be used by at least 1,000 people every hour. “How much convenient will it be for the visitors is anybody’s guess,” said a doctor on condition of anonymity. The roofs of two small porches provided on the entrance and the back door of the building have been converted into balconies. The designers of the building, however, failed to provide any access to these roofs. How these roofs will be cleaned or maintained remains a riddle, said a sweeper at the building. During a visit to the building, it was found that the flooring in the corridors was not in a proper condition. While the cement, which had accumulated on the floor during the construction work, was not removed, the stone used for flooring has also been damaged. The Medical Superintendent of the GMSH, Dr Rajiv Vadehra, refused to comment on the issue.
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SI held on bribe charge
Chandigarh, September 25 A mediator and local leader of a national party, Subhash Dhiman, was arrested in this connection on Monday night. The bribe was being taken from Harbans Singh, against whom a complaint was filed by his landlord Bisham Dass at the Mani Majra police station. Stating that the role of some senior policemen would also be verified, the CBI obtained the police custody of Subhash Dhiman for three days from the special court of the CBI. In his complaint to the CBI, Harbans Singh alleged that Cheema had demanded Rs 50,000 for not registering a case against him. Later, a deal was struck for Rs 25,000. The complainant stated that Cheema had directed him to hand over the bribe money to Subhash Dhiman. CBI officials said Cheema was arrested after verifying the complaint and scrutinising all evidence. Cheema was posted at the Mani Majra police station for the past six months. The complainant, Harbans Singh, is the brother of Manpreet Singh, who is a complainant against former MLA from Rajpura Raj Khurana in a corruption case. Cheema will be produced in the District Courts, sector 17, tomorrow.
Second such case this month The arrest of the Sub-Inspector on a bribe charge has exposed the "widespread corruption" in the Police Department. On September 6, Sub-Inspector Naveen Sharma was arrested for allegedly taking a bribe of ~5 lakh from a Mohali resident
Rs 25,000 deal CBI sleuths arrested Sub-Inspector Kulwarnjeet Singh Cheema for allegedly demanding and taking a bribe of ~25,000 from a resident of Mani Majra for "not framing him in a case of attempt to murder". Cheema was arrested inside the Mani Majra police station
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Now, be ready to shell out more for school bus service
Chandigarh, September 25 A decision in this regard was taken at a general body meeting of the Chandigarh School Bus Operatoras Welfare Association held in Sector 22 today. President of the association Manjeet Singh Saini said the With parents likely to feel the pinch of the decision, schools have decided not to accept the decision immediately. President of the Chandigarh Private Schools Association HS Mamik said the association would "not accept the decision immediately". "We will hold discussions with the bus operators on the issue," he said. He said according to a recent decision of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, no private school was allowed to increase any kind of fee, including the transport fee, without the consent of the respective education board. "We have challenged the decision. Hearing in the case is expected soon," he said. Kavita Das, Principal of St John's School, said, “We understand the trigger behind their decision. However, the school will not take any decision without holding talks with the bus operators. Meanwhile, parents are not happy with the decision to hike bus service charges. A parent, Rajesh Mehta, said this would further disturb their overall budget.
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Yeh eve-teasing kya hota hai, asks cop manning women helpline
Chandigarh, September 25 All this happened despite the fact that the city was shaken by three sordid cases of eve-teasing in a row. Yesterday, an eve-teaser had robbed, abducted and thrashed a 20-year-old girl in Sector 34. The youth assaulted the girl as she had earlier lodged a complaint against him with the police in July. The reaction of the policewoman belies the tall claims of the Chandigarh police of having an effective woman helpline. The UT police has been making tall claims of providing a safe city for women. It has set up up a women cell to provide immediate help to women. The police has also made such tall claims on its website. However, the policewoman was not even willing to listen to the complaint. The call was made on the helpline (number-705011) at 2.10 pm. When SSP Naunihal Singh was asked whether an eve-teasing victim could contact the women cell for help, he gave a prompt reply, “Yes, why not". However, when he was informed that a policewoman attending to such calls at the women cell was not even aware of the meaning of eve-teasing, the SSP said, “I am in a function. I will get back to you after some time.” Talking to Chandigarh Tribune, SSP (Operations) RS Ghuman said, “I will check up on the number. If someone sitting there does not know what eve-teasing, he or she has no right to be there.” The Chandigarh women helpline website says, “Women victims in most cases cannot take recourse to the criminal justice system for a variety of reasons, including fear of social stigma and lack of knowledge about institutions that could come to their rescue. In order to provide the necessary assistance to such victims, a round-the-clock women helpline has been set up at the Police Control Room (PCR) at the Chandigarh Police Headquarters." "The women cell deals with such cases. There may be cases such as kidnapping, abduction, sexual assault, eve-teasing, molestation, attempt to murder, attempt to commit suicide or beating by in-laws where the victimised person needs immediate help/intervention of the police," the website reads.
Parents term city unsafe Chandigarh is turning out to be another Delhi. Women are no longer safe here. The situation is turning from bad to worse with each passing day. It is because the police is not active here. My daughter went through a harrowing time in Sector 42 on September 19. If exemplary punishment is given to eve-teasers, no one will dare to commit the crime.~ Harish Kumar, father of an eve-teasing victim Girls usually hesitate to narrate such incidents to policemen. Policewomen should be deputed to deal with such cases.~ Vidhu Sharma, resident, Sector 11, Chandigarh
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F&CC wants MC to take over Central
Club
Chandigarh, September 25 Congress councillor Pardeep Chhabra said the site of the Central Club was originally allotted for a community centre to the Plot Holders Association in 1961 for five years at a token rent of Rs 25 per annum. Later, the site was leased out to the Central Club in 1975. Thereafter, the lease continued to be extended till 2004. The corporation should take up the matter with the UT Administration for handing over the club to the MC for its maintenance instead of giving it to CITCO. MC Commissioner VP Singh said the matter was raised by the members since the administration had given the management of all community centres to the corporation while
the land was still under the jurisdiction of the Administration. He said legal advice would be sought on the matter before taking further action on the recommendations of the members of the committee. On September 22, the UT estate office had sealed the Central Club after receiving orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Records of the estate office revealed that the club had stopped paying the rent since 2000. The Administration had directed the club management to deposit the rent, along with the interest. However, the club did not pay heed to the directions of the Administration. Members' take At a meeting of the finance and contract committee (F&CC), chaired by Mayor Raj Bala Malik here, members raised the issue stating that since the Central Club land was initially allocated for a community centre, the municipal corporation should take over it. The community centres are managed by the corporation.
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Youth crushed to death
Chandigarh, September 25 The driver fled the scene but later he was arrested in the evening. The accused has been identified as Satta. Sonu who was working as a sweeper in Sector 34 was the eldest of the three siblings. He has a younger brother and a sister. “It was in the morning when Sonu had gone to meet a friend in a nearby locality. He was sitting on a bicycle parked outside the house while waiting for his friend. The driver of the van reversed the vehicle at a high speed and Sonu was run over and thrown against a wall,” said a police official. He further added, “It was after the driver heard Sonu’s shrieks and people shouting at him to stop the van that he realized the he had run his vehicle over a youth he then fled the spot. Sonu was then taken to the hospital where he was declared brought dead.” Sonu’s family was in an inconsolable state. The post-mortem examination of the body was conducted and handed over to the family. A case has been registered at the Sector-31 police station. “We have arrested the driver, Satpal,” said Jaspal Singh, Station House Officer, at the police station.
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Councillors’ Honorarium may be hiked
Chandigarh, September 25 The proposal, which is going to be tabled in the coming General House scheduled for September 28, It is proposed that all Councillors will be paid Rs 10,000, instead of current monthly honorarium of Rs 5,000, a hike of 100 per cent. However, for the mayor, the hike will be up by about 33 per cent from the current Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000. As per the proposal, the increase of Rs 16,000 from Rs 6,500 for Senior Deputy Mayor and Rs 12,500 from 6,000 for the Deputy Mayor has also been recommended. In fact, the suggestion has also been made that the Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor be paid the mobile allowances of Rs 2,000 instead of Rs 750 at present. According to the proposal, the Councillors will get the allowance of Rs 500 for attending the meeting of the house. Records of the corporation revealed that in 2010 also former Mayor Anu Chatrath had proposed the hike in the UT administration - MC Coordination Committee meeting. Chatrath had pointed out that following on the lines of the Punjab government that had approved a monthly salary hike of Municipal councillors from Rs 5,000 to Rs. 7,000 and an increase in the monthly telephone allowance from Rs 700 to Rs 1,000, the same should followed in Chandigarh. At that time, the former UT Advisor, Pardeep Mehra, had asked the Mayor to get the agenda approved from the General House and submit it to the UT administration for consideration. Former nominated councilor Pam Rajput said that since there had been a 300 per cent increase in the salaries of Members of Parliament so the honorarium for the Councillors should also be hiked on similar lines. In 1996, when the Municipal Corporation was constituted, the monthly honorarium for the councillors was fixed at Rs 1,000 per month and that of the Mayor at Rs 2,000 per month. However, the monthly honorarium was revised to Rs 2,000 for councillors and Rs 3,000 for Mayor to bring them at par with their counterparts in Punjab, since the Chandigarh MC was following the Punjab Act. Councillor of Ward No. 7 takes oath of office Chandigarh: The newly elected Congress councillor from Ward No. 7 of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, Poonam Sharma, was administered oath of office by Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Shayin today. Sharma was accompanied by senior Congress leaders. She was elected from Ward No. 7 after defeating BJP-SAD candidate Bindu rani and BSP candidate Seema Yadav in byelection. — TNS
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Biometric attendance system at UT Estate Office
Chandigarh, September 25 The Deputy Commissioner, Mohammad Shayin, has introduced the system following public complaints regarding the staff in the public dealing branches being absent from duty. There are different branches of the Estate Office, additional deputy commissioner’s office, building branch, house allotment committee, colony and licensing section that involve public dealing. Officials disclosed that the new system was being introduced after the employees were found to be absent from duty even though they were marked present as per office records. "With the introduction of the biometric system, the staff will have to punch in and punch out at regular timings. The employee will have to record his attendance in person," said an official. After collecting the database of all the employees, the system will become operational in the coming days. For the field staff, a system was being worked out. “The biometric system to mark attendance is one of the measures to streamline the working of the departments in the Deputy Commissioner’s complex in the Delux Building at Sector 17 here. The DC has already introduced the system of fixing accountability for delay in clearing the files. The dealing hands concerned are being asked to explain reason for the delay, if any, for not dealing with files within 15 days. A senior official said already different Deputy Commissioner’s-cum Estate officers have from time-to-time tried to enforce the system of following the time schedule in dealing with different type of cases in the Estate Office, but it has not been followed in the true spirit.
Complaints followed action The Deputy Commissioner, Mohammad
Shayin, has introduced the system following public complaints regarding the staff in the public dealing branches being absent from duty.
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Suspected dengue death reported
Chandigarh, September 25 An eight-year-old boy was admitted to the PGI with symptoms of dengue on September 19 and he died on September 21. The nodal officer for vector-borne diseases Dr Naresh Kumar said it was yet to be confirmed that the boy died due to dengue fever. Sonu (19) tested positive for swine flu. He is a resident of Hallo Majra. Dr Naresh said a majority of dengue fever cases surfaced in Burail, Hallo Majra, Colony No. 4, Sectors 24, 29 and 30. Fogging has been intensified in these areas.
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Supply of muddy water: MC staff visit colony
Chandigarh, September 25 Area Councillor Rajinder Kaur who also accompanied the officials stated that she had made a complaint to the public health officials, but no action was taken till date. The team assured the residents that close monitoring would be done in the area to identify the fault and rectify it.
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Surprise inspection at Model Jail
Chandigarh, September 25 They made rounds of all the barrack and problems of prisoners were heard. The complaint box of all the barracks were opened and checked for complaints made by the court staff in presence of visiting authorities. Some prisoners were interviewed separately by the visiting authority. Kitchen of the jail was also inspected and food was checked to ascertain the quantity as well as the quality of food being served to the jail inmates.
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finance and contract committee meeting
Chandigarh, September 25 The committee also approved three fully automatic parking lots in the city, including two in Sector 17 near the Empire Store and Sahib Singh and one in Sector 35.
Members of the committee said the authorities should follow the sliding system under which a vehicle owner is charged money on an hourly basis instead of charging flat rates from him all her. Under the system, the authorities can fix the parking charges. For two hours, Rs 5 can be charged, for five hours, Rs 10 can and for eight hours Rs 20 can be charged. In these lots, no pass holder will be allowed to park a vehicle. Last year in October, the traffic police had brought to the notice of the MC authorities that theft cases in vacant parking lots, including near Sahib Singh in Sector 17 and at the Himalaya Marg in Sector 43, were on the rise as these were not allotted to any contractor. In a written communication, the police had asked the MC authorities to either allot these sites to parking contractors or manage these at their own level to check the rising theft incidents. Following which the proposal was drafted and tabled in the meeting. As per records, the proposal regarding the conversion of of two other parking lots into paid ones, including Sector 20 and Mani Majra, are lying pending with the B&R department. The committee has also approved the revised terms and conditions of the allotment of parking lots to contractors. As per terms, the corporation will not cancel the contract of the parking contractor even after issuing five challans for rules of paid parking. However, the contractor will have to furnish four month's bank guarantee after the allotment of the parking lot.
Sidelights
Commissioner inspects garbage plant
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senate elections
Chandigarh, September 25 Five of the eight elected principals are new faces while seven out of the eight college teachers, who were already sitting members of the Senate, were re-elected. Among the three principals, who were already sitting Senate members, and have been re-elected are Gurdip Sharma, Hardiljit Singh Gosal and RS Jhanji. There were a total 11 candidates in the race for eight seats. Interestingly, Gurdip Sharma after getting 11 votes broke the record of former principal of SD College AC Vaid who had secured 10 votes in the arts college principal constituency. Among the arts college teachers constituency, sitting Senator PS Gill failed to retain the seat while all the seven sitting Senators from the constituency were re-elected. In all, 1,908 votes were declared valid. Twenty teachers had contested for eight seats. The counting process for the 15 seats under the graduate constituency also started at PU late in the evening. The term of all elected candidates will begin from November 1 for a period of four years. The Senate is the governing body of PU which takes all decisions related to the university and its affiliated colleges.
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Two-wheeler hits traffic policeman
Chandigarh, September 25 "It was in the morning when during the naka Kumar signalled the girl to stop. When she did not stop, Kumar came in front of her vehicle to stop her, but the girl hit him and fled," said a police official. He added, " Rajender had suffered minor injuries on his legs." It was on May 14 this year, when a traffic policeman was allegedly assaulted at a
'naka' set up to check tinted glass at the Sector 43 roundabout. Though no complaint has been lodged so far, the Deputy Superintendent of Police (traffic) has reportedly asked the victim to report the matter. In the recent past, around four incidents of assault on policemen on duty have been reported. On May 9, Assistant Sub-Inspector Avtar Singh, posted at the police control room, suffered injuries after being hit by a jeep at a naka laid at the transport lights. On May 7, a constable of the Chandigarh traffic police was hit by a sports utility vehicle at a naka set up to check the use of black films on vehicles on the road separating Sectors 25 and 38.
Not the first incident
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Street art to be major attraction
Chandigarh, September 25 The graffti work will open on September 29 at 4.00 pm along with the street art and food festival which has been conceptualised on the pattern of art festivals held in the US and European countries. CITCO General Manager AK Malhotra said that the street art festival, which will be held for two days on Sep 29-30, would provide a wholesome blend of cuisine and art to the visitors. A big wooden easel-shaped entry gate will lead people towards the lake where they can see the graffiti work and street art prepared by the local artists on September 29. Deepak, another artist working with Anshuman, said that they would paint the road near the lake in a way that it would give a three-dimensional effect. Such forms of public art are very famous in the West, he said. There will be plenty to eat and enjoy as well, officials said. According to them, a special food court would be made near CITCO’s Lake Cafeteria that will have famous street food items of North India. NZCC folk artists across the North India have been specially called to perform street dances during the event. Malohtra said that the festival would also see the participation of professional and amateur artists in various areas like painting, sketching sculpture art, rangoli, glass painting jewellery-making, face-painting, tattoo making, folk dances and singing, and instrumental music performance. Volunteers are open to be a part of this festival with any kind of art form. The Chandigarh Administration and CITCO also organised a 'Run for Tourism' as part of the World Tourism Week celebrations. It started from the Open Hand Monument and the participants passed through Bougainvillea Garden and Leisure Valley to reach the Government Museum and Art Gallery in Sector 10.
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Humorous play marks end of Chandigarh theatre fest
Chandigarh, September 25 Thoroughly entertaining, the play talked about how friends, family and urban support system had a vital role in our lives. It also questioned the urge we have today to remove all signs of our culture and our past. As the characters argued, dreamt and fumbled through their life and relationships, the play took the viewers back to their own growing-up years. The play celebrates Indian-ness, friendship, forgiveness, values, and most of all, the ability to laugh.
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PU appointments under scanner
Chandigarh, September 25 The selection process has raised doubts as the university has used two different criteria for the selection. The form used for assessment of candidates for the posts of professor in the prosthodontics department is not even signed by the selection committee, raising serious doubts over the authenticity of marks allotted to each candidate. While the assessment form used for selection of oral maxillofacial surgery professor carries 20 per cent marks for the academic background and 40 per cent marks for the research performance, based on the API score and quality of publications, the same has been altered for the selection of professor in the prosthodontics department. This form carries 25 per cent marks for the academic background, reducing the marks for research performance to 25 per cent. The appointments that were tabled before the Syndicate on September 8 were deferred after Syndics raised objections, following which all the appointments were referred back for
clarification. The Syndics, during the meeting, had enquired that how two different criteria could be used for the appointment of professors in the same institute? “The changed criteria was not even approved by any of the bodies including PU, the Dental Council of India (DCI) or University Grant Commission (UGC),” said a Syndic, adding, “The selection committee has no right to make any alteration to the assessment form.” Making things murkier, the assessment form on which the marks of ten candidates, who appeared for the interview, had been allotted was not signed by the selection committee on both the sides. “While one side of the form, on which marks of five candidates have been allotted, is signed by the selection committee, the other side, containing marks of the remaining five candidates, has been left unsigned” said a Syndic. Ashish Jain, director principal of the dental institute, when contacted, said he was not aware
of the selection procedure followed. PU Registrar AK Bhandari said he was not familiar with the facts related to the objections raised. He, however, admitted that a clarification had been sought by the Vice-Chancellor on the objections being raised by the Syndics in the meeting. “The issue would be tabled again before the Syndicate on September 30,” he said. Nature of post altered
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Urban planning in focus at PU
Chandigarh, September 25 BS Ojha, chairman of the IIPA regional branch, said the high pace of urbanisation was giving rise to various socio-political, economic and administrative issues. "These issues should be thoroughly researched for making a good urban development plan," he said. —
TNS
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School bus operators in the tricity on Tuesday decided to hike the monthly bus service charges by
Rs 50 from October
