Jammu, April 4
Prestigious paediatrics hospitals of the state-Shri Maharaja Gulab Singh (SMGS) Jammu and Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) Srinagar-are responsible for deaths of 5,761 infants from January 2009 till May 2012.The institutes do not fulfil the Medical Council of India norms either.

This was revealed in the report of a 13-member House Committee constituted by the Legislative Assembly to "examine the cause of an alarming increase in the deaths of patients in the SKIMS Srinagar and the SMGS Hospital (Paediatrics), Jammu.

The Health and Medical Education department has admitted that both the institutions lack manpower and infrastructure besides high referral of patients from various districts has resulted in a high morality rate.

The department has also admitted that institutions were short of specialists in various units, which hamper the process of providing specialised care to the patients.

Ironically, the department had even tried to invite suggestions for the AIIMS and the PGI Chandigarh but did not succeed.

The report, which was based on a series of meetings of the committee, was tabled in the House yesterday. Panthers Party MLA Balwant Singh Mankotia led the panel.

The report also revealed that 1,045 vacancies of doctors were vacant in the Health and Medical Education Department, including vacant posts on account of leave, deputation and for studying PG courses in different fields.

"As many as 3,468 patients died out of 79,498 patients admitted at SKIMS from January 2011 to June 2012. Among those, 2,610 were institutional deaths (means a death occurring during 48 hours from the time of admission of patients). The gross death rate was 6.1 per cent, including deaths which occurred within and after 48 hours of admission and even on arrival whereas the net death rate was 3.5 per cent," the report states quoting Director SKIMS.

The report while quoting the Head of the Department of Paediatrics, SMGS Hospital, Jammu, said, "Out of 29,199 patients admitted from January 2011 to July 2012 in the hospital, 1,172 died during the period (4.01%) and there was significant decline in the morality rate from 4.9% in 2010 to 4.01 per cent. As against the requirement of 400 beds in the department, only 293 were available."

The House after on-the-spot inspections of both the SMGS (Paediatrics) and SKIMS, Srinagar, observed that the medicare system in the state was not functioning as per the Medical Council of India (MCI) norms in terms of manpower (medical and paramedical), infrastructure and medical equipments.

"The committee also observed that there seems a wide gap between the administrative department, respective directorates and the hospital administrations which badly tells upon its functioning and the ultimate sufferers were none other than the patients," the report said.

The report said the House Committee was of the opinion that referrals from the peripheral hospitals to the apex institution were made due to lack of specialised treatment vis-à-vis the manpower and medical equipment and recommended that the department should put in all out efforts to strengthen the peripheral hospitals.

Interestingly, the panel also questioned the department as to how the state was acclaimed as number one in healthcare when the primary and secondary medical institutions were falling short of all the required medical facilities.

The panel also expressed serious concern over the human resource deficit in health and medical education department and observed that if the vacant posts were not filled in time the condition would definitely get worse in respect of the upgrade and improvement of the system.

Jammu, April 4
The state government today admitted that monkeys destroy crops and fruits worth Rs 37.65 crore in Jammu division every year. The government said monkeys cause a substantial loss to fruit crops like mango, guava, grapes, citrus fruits, litchi, sandy pear, peach, plum, apricot etc and the estimated damage on the basis of random assessment done in the areas affected in Jammu division was Rs 4.72 crore.

Similarly, major crops like maize, wheat, rice and vegetable crops covering 15,596 hectares of agriculture land falling in more than 250 villages of Jammu, Kathua, Udhampur and Reasi districts get damaged annually by monkeys. He said annual financial loss on this account was Rs 32.93 crore. In Kashmir division, there was less threat of monkeys to agriculture crops but in hilly areas near the forests threat to crops from wild animals including monkeys is more.

This information was provided by the Minister for Agriculture Ghulam Hassan Mir while replying to a calling attention notice by MLA Basohli assembly segment Jagdish Raj Sapolia in the Legislative Assembly here.

The minister said fruit trees which monkeys prefer for shelter needs to be planted along the periphery of forest and protected areas to augment the food availability for them so that they remain restricted in the forest areas only and do not come out to damage crops.

Jammu, April 4
Assembly witnessed uproar as Jammu State Morcha (JSM) MLA Ashwani Kumar Sharma raised slogans against delay on part of the state government to implement recommendations of GD Wadhwa Committee. Sharma also staged a walkout over the issue.

Raising the issue during the Zero Hour, Sharma rued that the committee had submitted its recommendations in 2008 but the government was still examining them. “This regime is not interested solve problems of the refugees so delay tactics is being adopted by not implementing recommendation of the committee,” he said. The government did not reply over the issue leading to a walkout by Sharma. He told reporters the committee had already submitted its recommendations but instead of implementing the same the report had been referred to the Department of Justice, Law and Parliament Affairs to place the same before the Cabinet sub-committee. “This is a glaring example of injustice with the refugees,” he alleged.

“We have been repeatedly asking the government to implement recommendations of the Wadhwa Committee but no action has been taken so far,” Sharma said. He said the committee had recommended measures to solve problems of all refugees, including those from West Pakistan.The committee, under the leadership of then Financial Commissioner (Revenue) GD Wadhwa, was constituted in 2006 to look into the problems of 1947, 1965 and 1971 refugees from the Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) and West Pakistan. Though the committee submitted its report in 2008, the government is yet to decide on the recommendations.

During the last three successive budget sessions of the Assembly, this issue was raised by the members but every time government’s reply was that it was “examining” the report.

Jammu, April 4
The J&K Government Employees Joint Action Committee (JAC) has strongly condemned the discontinuation of the services of casual, seasonal and daily rated workers by the government.

At a meeting held under the chairmanship of Ram Kumar Sharma and Rafiq Ahmad Khaniyari today, the workers expressed shock over the alleged anti-worker move of the state government.

The JAC members said the services of these workers were used by the authorities for smooth functioning of the department but instead of regularising them, the government had terminated their services.

They claimed that the state government had reached an agreement with the J&K Government Employees Joint Consultative Committee to frame a policy for regularisation of casual, seasonal and daily rated workers who have rendered more than seven years of service in different government departments.

The committee members termed the decision as unfortunate. The committee had demanded that the government should withdraw its order and frame a final policy for regularisation of workers who have completed seven years of service. The committee also warned to launch a state- wide agitation against the said circular.

Jammu, April 4
The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) today took out Shri Jagannath Rath Yatra under the aegis of Navyogendra Maharaj. The yatra began from Kachi Chawni.

Briefing the media, Navyogendra Maharaj said devotees from all religions celebrate the chariot festival with tremendous enthusiasm.

He said such festivals unite the society. He said Shri Jaggannath Yatra was conducted in many countries across the world wherein millions of people come together to pull the chariot of Lord Jagannnath.

He said the Rath Yatra symbolises that the Lord came out in the streets to embrace his devotees. He also invited everyone to attend the yatra.

Shiva Bhartiya along with Jagdish Parihar, president, Shri Jaggannath Rath Yatra Swagat Committee, Dr H R Sharma and Neeraj Bhartiya welcomed the guests and dignitaries.

Jammu, April 4
With the term of Jammu & Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) office-bearers ending in June this year, the cricket body is gearing up to ensure timely elections. One of the important tasks is to find a suitable replacement of coach Bishen Singh Bedi after his premature exit.

Sources in the JKCA said this year’s elections of the association would be very crucial as some of the main office-bearers had been either sacked or they resigned after the infamous multi-crore scam in March 2012. Since then, the JKCA has been functioning without a general secretary, chairman and other office-bearers.

“The last elections were held on June 23, 2011. Though as per the Constitution, the elections of the state cricket body has to be held after one year, the working committee had recommended a term for two years for the office-bearers,” said a source in the JKCA.

“No doubt, the working committee had recommended a term of two years for the office-bearers but in order to implement it, it has to be passed in the general council meeting, which is yet to be done. It is imperative for the state cricket body to strictly follow the rules and regulations,” the source said.

In reply to a question whether the office-bearers who had been sacked or who resigned from their posts, would be allowed to contest in the forthcoming elections, a JKCA official said the association was likely to keep them at bay.

JKCA treasurer Manzoor Wazir said association chief Dr Farooq Abdullah had directed them to start the election process. “During my telephonic conversation with JKCA president Dr Farooq Abdullah, he directed us to start the election process. If everything goes as per the plan, elections will be held in the month of June,” Wazir said.

“The JKCA chief is very keen on ensuring smooth functioning of the state cricket body and I hope that the newly elected office-bearers will help in achieving that,” he said.

Jammu, April 4
The PHE Workers Welfare Association, Jammu, today held a demonstration in the office of the Chief Engineer to demand regularisation of daily wagers.

Thakur Bakshi Singh, provincial president of the association led the demonstration. The protestors raised slogans against the PHE administration and the state government for their failure to regularise the wages of workers of the department. They said these daily wagers had been working round-the- clock like permanent employees.

The association demanded regularisation of workers who had completed five years of service and implementation of enhanced wages for the unskilled, ITI, semi-skilled and skilled workers. The employees also said the Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) meeting be convened against the vacant posts.

The association also demanded introduction of Welfare Fund Scheme for the PHE employees in the department.

Addressing the employees, Thakur Bakshi Singh said the department was playing with the sentiments of daily wagers who had contributed significant period of their lives to serve in the department. He alleged that these workers were treated as bonded labourers by the administration.

Subash Verma, provincial general secretary of the association, Omkar Sharma, Rattan Doshi, Thakur Baldev Singh, Chuni Lal, Babu Singh, Vijay Singh, Ravi Kumar, Lal Chand, Ram Labhaya, Chain Kumar, Bansi Lal, Taramani, Mohammad Shafi, Manzoor Ali and Ram Parkash also spoke on the occasion.

Jammu, April 4
SRL Limited, a leading diagnostics networks in the country, today announced its state-of-art laboratory at Gandhi Nagar here. The laboratory is equipped to handle more than 4,000 tests, ranging from a routine to highly advanced tests. Spread over an area of 2,500 sqft, the new lab features reliability of two-level reporting.

Speaking on the occasion Shalin Khanna, GM (Franchisee Business), SRL Diagnostics, said “We are pleased to dedicate our new state-of-the-art pathology lab to the people of Jammu. It is a new-age diagnostics set up, a first-of-its-kind offering in the region. We are sure that the people of Jammu will benefit tremendously from the new facility”.

The lab will offer diagnostics services ranging from basic blood counts, blood sugar tests, liver function tests and thyroid to the more advanced tests pertaining to biochemistry, haematology, hormones, microbiology, clinical pathology, serology and histopathology. To provide quick and convenient reporting, SRL will also provide test reports to doctors and patients through the website.

Jammu, April 4
Students of Oriental Academy, Kachi Chawni, have bagged the Governor’s Award for achieving excellence in Scouts and Guides activities.

Governor NN Vohra gave away the award to the students during a function held at Raj Bhawan, Jammu. Former Sports Minister RS Chib was also present on the occasion. Students who received the award are Neelam Gupta (group captain), Tanvi Gandotra, Saloni Verma, Manisha Gupta, Marwa Choudhary and Sunidhi Chouhan.

Jammu, April 4
Members of the Bharat Swabhiman Trust and Patanjali Yog Samiti today said every political party in India was involved in corrupt practises and scams like the Bofors, 2G Spectrum allocation, Commonwealth Games, coal allocation and chopper deal.

State president of the Trust, Bansi Lal Sharma, while briefing the media today said Baba Ramdev would soon announce a political alternative for the upcoming 2014 Lok Sabha elections. He said the samiti’s central working committee meeting was recently held at Haridwar in the presence of yoga guru Ramdev.

He said during the meeting, threadbare discussions were held on burning issues of the country. “Our neighbouring country Pakistan had gone to such an extent that they beheaded two of our two soldiers on the Indian territory a few days back and the Central government remained a mute spectator,” he said.

“Even two marines from Italy murdered two Indian fishermen and refused to return to India for their trial. Foreign debts, drought-like situation, suicides by farmers are common these days. Food grains are getting spoilt in godowns. Farmers are not getting the right price for their produce. Black money and corruption are responsible for all these things. Unless strict and timely action is taken by the Central government, people will go on suffering,” said Bansi Lal.

Bansi Lal Sharma said the Bharat Swabhiman Trust, which was offering yoga education and ayurveda medicines, was determined to remove inequality from society and bring transparency in the system to make the country prosperous. 

Jammu, April 4
Lt Gen Kuldip Raj Salgotra, a general and orthopaedic surgeon, who specialises in joint-replacement surgery, visited the 166 Military Hospital, Satwari, here today. He was accompanied by his wife, Renu Salgotra. During his visit, Lt Gen Salgotra commended the efforts of the 166 MH for providing the latest specialised and super-specialised services to the patients.

The hospital provides specialised and super-specialised treatment to soldiers, their families, armed forces veterans and their dependents.

Salgotra is the second armed forces doctor from the J&K, who has attained the rank of Lieutenant General in the Armed Forces Medical Services. He is currently serving as Deputy Chief, Integrated Defence Services (Medical), Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff, New Delhi.

Lt Gen Salgotra commended the able stewardship of Brig Man Mohan Harjai, Commandant, 166 Military Hospital, and also the medical and para-medical staff, for working with vigour, zeal, dedication and commitment, to provide quality healthcare and succour to the patients.

He also appreciated the high standards of the new hospital complex, especially the technical building which houses the accident and emergency services, all the OPDs, family wards, paediatric ward and the administrative block.

Salgotra was awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal in 2007 for his distinguished services in the field of orthopaedics and introduction of joint-replacement services at the 166 MH here.

He was born and brought up in Kot Maira village in Akhnoor, near the Line of Control. After doing his primary schooling at his native village, he passed his Class X examination from the Government High School, Pallanwala, attaining a state level position in the J&K Secondary School Education.

Jammu, April 4
The J&K men’s team today bagged the silver medal in the Sabre team event in the 4th Federation Cup Fencing Championship. Shivani Hans clinched the bronze medal in the women’s category of the event.

Earlier, in the Sabre team event, the J&K overcame the challenge of the Maharastra team by 45-25 points in the quarterfinals and later, it defeated the Punjab team in the semifinals by 45-42 points.

In the final bout, the J&K lost to the SSCB by 38-45. The Sabre team comprised Ujjwal Gupta, Vishal Thapar, Javed Ahmed and Ankush Gupta.

The coach of the team is Ajay Khartol and the manager is Dimple Thappa. 

Jammu, April 4
Ramisht Twinkling Star Public High School and Ramisht College of Education, Basohli, today organised its annual function in the school premises. Member of Parliament Lal Singh was the chief guest on the occasion and former Basholi MLA Kanta Andotra was the guest of honour. Praan Singh was the special invitee.

A number of cultural items including Punjabi, Haryanavi, Pahari and Dogri dance performances were presented on the occasion.

The chief guest presented a special prize to Vanshika Saraf who stood first in the class 8th examinations in Basohli tehsil. Chairman of the school appreciated students and teachers for their performances. He said the school was trying its best to provide quality education for the all-round development of the students.