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Row over availability of cancer drugs
Faridkot, December 21
An alleged sale of cancer drugs at exorbitant price at a specially set up medicine store in the oncology ward of Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital (GGSMC&H) in Faridkot has stirred a controversy. The drugs are otherwise need to be provided at highly-subsidised government rates.

Machinery imported for labs in citrus estates remain unused
Abohar, December 21
The state-of-the-art labs set up in the citrus estates by the state government under the National Horticulture Mission project may be rendered useless as no technical staff has been appointed to operate the equipment imported one year ago.

Equipment imported for citrus laboratories in Abohar at a cost of Rs 1 crore are lying unused for the past more than a year. Equipment imported for citrus laboratories in Abohar at a cost of Rs 1 crore are lying unused for the past more than a year. A Tribune photograph

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	Land grab: Role of govt officials under scanner December 15, 2012
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	Row over availability of cancer drugs Govt store in Faridkot medical college denying drugs claiming them to be ‘out of stock’ Balwant Garg Tribune News Service Faridkot, December 21 An alleged sale of cancer drugs at exorbitant price at a specially set up medicine store in the oncology ward of Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital (GGSMC&H) in Faridkot has stirred a controversy. The drugs are otherwise need to be provided at highly-subsidised government rates. The preliminary investigations by the district health department revealed that with an intention to fleece the cancer patients, these subsidised medicines in the oncology ward were refused to the needy patients, under the pretext of these being 'out of stock'. The patients were forced to purchase these medicines from a particular drug store at inflated prices. At the time when the authorities in the medical college are fighting hard to solve the imbroglio, the district health department has informed the director, state health department about how the medicine store was evasive in providing the record about the movement of cancer drugs. After receiving a complaint and inspection of the drug store in the oncology ward of the hospital, the health department authorities recovered seven packets of a drug which was earlier declined to a patient, claiming them being 'out of stock'. The patient was forced to purchase the drug at Rs 11,000 from a particular chemist shop. Otherwise, the medicine is available in the market for Rs 4,000, said Dr Surinder Kumar, District Health Officer (DHO), Faridkot. Some days ago, under the Chief Minister's Relief Fund scheme, a special drug store was set up in the medical college to provide most of the cancer drugs at highly subsidised rates. But there are complaints of patients being denied medicines at this store. The state government started giving the cancer drugs at subsidised rates after there was grumbling about the rising cost of medicines and that cancer patients were hard hit by the high cost of treatment, said Deputy Commissioner Ravi Bhagat. "After receiving complaints, I had directed the district health authorities to conduct an inquiry," he said. "We have asked the operators of the cancer drug store to produce the sale-purchase movement record of the medicines," said Faridkot drug inspector Tejinder Singh. The complaints of fleecing of the cancer patients who purchase essential drugs at inflated prices, even to the extent of ten times its cost price, are so common in the area. The preliminary study of unethical practice in the sale of essential drugs to the patients revealed that the cost of manufacturing many drugs is relatively low, compared to the price these are sold at. By selling drugs at inflated prices, some pharmaceutical companies and retailers pocket a large share of the money paid by patients.
	Machinery imported for labs in citrus estates remain unused Raj Sadosh Abohar, December 21 The state-of-the-art labs set up in the citrus estates by the state government under the National Horticulture Mission project may be rendered useless as no technical staff has been appointed to operate the equipment imported one year ago. The government had set up such labs in the citrus estates last year at a cost of Rs 1 crore. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, while ordering the setting up of five citrus estates to bring an area of over 18,000 acres in 400 villages in Punjab under citrus cultivation in 2007, had claimed that this would be the most ambitious diversification project ever undertaken in a single year with a deadline of just 30 days. The five estates were set up in citrus-growing areas of Abohar, Tahliwala Jattan village near Fazilka, CM's native village Badal in Muktsar district, Hariana and Hoshiarpur. The estates were provided with latest and imported farm implements like orange picker, pruning saw, power spray pumps, hydraulic pruner etc. Horticulture Department deputy director Dr Jagnandan Singh confirmed that only senior soil technocrats could operate the lab equipment after getting training. As of now, three out of four posts of horticulture development officers are lying vacant. Also, seven out of 12 posts of technical assistants are yet to be filled. In Tahliwala Jattan, three out of five technical assistants are yet to be appointed. As many as 20 horticulture development officers need to be appointed in Fazilka and Ferozepur districts. The state government had appointed eight officers for Abohar but only three of them have so far joined their duties. Congress Legislative Party leader Sunil Jakhar alleged that for political reasons, the SAD-BJP alliance made no effort to develop a citrus marketing yard in Abohar during the past six years of its rule.
	Prevalence of cancer high in Muktsar dist Tribune News Service Muktsar, December 21 As many as 1,021 persons have been detected with cancer and 1,665 persons have died due to the disease in Muktsar district. Besides, 3,795 persons have been detected with cancer symptoms. The figures have been provided by the health department in connection with its ongoing door-to-door cancer detection survey. Nearly 7.62 lakh people in the district have already been covered in the survey while two lakh people would be surveyed by the end of the year. Deputy Commissioner Paramjit Singh said those detected with symptoms similar to that of cancer would be further examined. He added that such persons could approach the Civil Surgeon to avail of a financial aid of Rs 1.5 lakh being provided by the state government. A doctor said, “The figures released by the health department could have been more authentic if the state government had carried out the survey using scientific methods. Presently, the health staff is collecting data based on the respondents' opinions.” Door-to-door survey z The ongoing door-to-door cancer detection survey found that as many as 1,021 persons in the district were inflicted with the dreadful disease. z Further, the survey reported 1,665 cancer deaths while 3,795 persons have been detected with cancer symptoms.
	Cross-border drug peddler held 2 Pakistan-made pistols, contraband worth `1 cr recovered Our Correspondent Ferozepur, December 21 The Ferozepur police has apprehended a wanted cross-border drug peddler and recovered two Pakistan-made pistols along with some ammunition besides contraband worth Rs 1 crore from his possession. SSP Varinder Pal Singh said the apprehended drug smuggler was identified as Pipal Singh, who belongs to Jalal Singh Wala village under the Mamdot block along the border. He said during interrogation, Pipal revealed that he had already made around eight cross-border sorties in the last three years during which he had brought around 48 kg of heroin worth around Rs 240 crore besides 14 pistols and Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) of Rs 35 lakh, which he had already passed on to the next courier in the chain. The SSP said last year also, Pipal was nabbed along with FICN of Rs 5 lakh following which he was sent behind bars. However, he managed to come out of the jail after four months.
	Helpline Desk Team to nab eve-teasers Tribune News Service Barnala, December 21 To check the incidents of eve-teasing, the Barnala district police has constituted a woman helpline desk team. SSP Snehdeep Sharma said the team had started functioning today. He said if any woman or girl was harassed, she or any other person could rang up the police control room's telephone number 100 to lodge a complaint. The SSP further said the name and address of the complainant would be kept secret. After receiving the complaint, the team would rush to the spot and initiate action against the accused. Under the supervision of a woman inspector, a five-member team had been constituted that would function under the woman helpline desk team, he added. The SSP said the contact numbers of the members of the team would be with the police control room while the team would have phone numbers of police stations and mobile patrolling squads of the entire district. He said the police officers would visit the colleges to give detailed information to the girls about the woman helpline desk team.