Bathinda, December 31
The cashless treatment facility under the Punjab Chief Minister's Cancer Relief Fund begins from January 1. No cancer patient, visiting hospitals empanelled with the state health department, will have to pay any kind of security or consultation fees and even the bed charges have been waived.

Talking to TNS, principal secretary, health and family welfare, Government of Punjab, Vinni Mahajan said that earlier, the government used to reimburse the amount spent on cancer treatment at the

rates charged by the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER).

"It was difficult for the private hospitals to work at the PGI rates, which were on the higher side. This led to the problem of patients being additionally charged, which was a burden on him or her. With the introduction of cashless facility, a patient need not spend a single penny from his pocket up to Rs 1.5 lakh for treatment," she said.

The private hospitals, which have been removed from the list of empanelled hospitals, were found guilty of fleecing patients in the name of charging security, consultation fees and bed charges.

"Since it used to take around two months for every case to be given green signal for inclusion under the CM's Relief Fund facility, some private hospitals took advantage of this. We had directed them to start the treatment and reimburse the patient the money he or she had spent. But this was not being followed in spirit," revealed a senior official of the health department.

Under the new facility, the government will be reimbursing the cost of treatment on the basis of the rates of the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) non-NABH (National Accreditation Board for Hospitals), which are the lowest.

Coupled with this, the government has provided medicines for cancer treatment at heavy subsidy in bulk to the empanelled private hospitals.

"This means that the average cost of radiation therapy would be slashed by around 30 per cent over the previous amount, while the radiation therapy would be almost free of cost. Added to this, the government has given high standard medicines at subsidised rates, which are similar to those being used at Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital, Mumbai. These would be a boon for the cancer patients," said Dr Manjinder Singh Sidhu, radiotherapist at the Max Superspeciality Hospital, which is the only empanelled hospital of Bathinda.

Forty-two cancer patients are availing free treatment under the CM's Cancer Relief Fund at the Max Hospital presently.

Bathinda, December 31
The city bus service of the Municipal Corporation Bathinda (MCB), being run by the PRTC, has a fleet of buses that are being plied without the requisite permit.

The state government has not issued the route permit for these buses which is causing loss to the state government. It has also exposed the drivers of these vehicles to the risk of not getting bail from the court in the event of any tragedy.

In the event of any tragedy, the buses of these drivers will not even get bail as their vehicles do not have the permit to ply. To get bail, one has to first produce the route permit in court. Since these buses do not have the route permit, their drivers are at the risk of being in the lock-up for a longer period of time. The MCB floated a fleet of 10 city buses at a cost of Rs 3.25 crore with much fanfare on April 13, 2012. Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal flagged off this prestigious project. In haste, the government started running the buses without getting the permit.

As per rules, no bus could run without a permit. Sources said the PRTC depot in Bathinda has written several letters to the state government demanding route permits for these buses, but no response has been received.

Every bus travels 200 kms per day. These city buses are earning around Rs 40,000 per day and their per month earning is Rs 12.40 lakhs. Despite the earning, the buses are not paying special road taxes. "Since we do not have road permits, we are unable to pay the tax. The delay in issuing permits is also costing the government in terms of revenue. We have not paid even a single penny of special tax for these buses," said a PRTC official.

Already due to the paucity of employees, the buses are working in one shift only. Earlier, the buses used to be run for 16 hours in two shifts, which has now been reduced to eight hours. Instead of the required 52, there are only 27 drivers and conductors.

Now, the government has plans to run 20 more mini buses in the trans-railway line area for which funds have been sought from the Central Government. The new buses too may face the problem of route permit.

Without route permit, the state government cannot claim special road tax. The PRTC has been regularly writing to the Secretary, Transport Department, and the state transport commissioner, Punjab, but no response has been received.

Managing Director, PRTC, Bhupinder Singh Rai said the PRTC was just an operating authority and the onus of issuing permits lay with the state transport commissioner. State transport commissioner Prithi Chand, was however, not available for his comments on the issue as he was on a visit to Trivandrum.

Bathinda, December 31
The tall claims of the state government of providing smooth roads in Bathinda seem to have fallen flat as deep potholes on the roads in the city are resulting in frequent road accidents.

Residents of the city lament that the smooth roads have turned hazardous with potholes emerging suddenly on them, increasing the graph of accidents manifold.

The potholes on a smooth road are not only damaging four-wheelers but have also become the top reason for the accidents.

"A motorcyclist fell on the Mall Road and received serious head injuries on Sunday. The young boy from Model Town phase-III was taken to a hospital by the volunteers of the NGO Sahara Jan Sewa," said Jaswinder Sidhu, a resident of Model Town Phase-III. Two-wheelers are ill-equipped to handle such potholes and the bikers, in view of these potholes, should not drive at a speed of more than 40 kmph, Jaswinder said.

The situation worsens during the rains when unaware of these potholes, cyclists and motorcyclists fall into the death trap.

Faulty roads claimed the life of a man in Parasram Nagar, just a few days before the inaugural ceremony of the World Kabaddi Cup. Despite the hue and cry, the officials hardly paid any heed to the damaged road which still poses a serious threat to the motorists travelling on the stretch.

Commuters regret that though the state government spent Rs 25 crores on the World Kabaddi Cup, it failed to provide basic facilities to the city residents.

"A truck overturned in front of my car on Jaitu Road due to a deep bowl-shaped opening on the road," said Bhupinder Brar, a resident of nearby Matta village. Bhupinder Brar's recently purchased Skoda Fabia failed to absorb the sudden impact and its suspension and front bumper was damaged. "Hardly any official of the PWD B&R bothers about these potholes which not only damage the four-wheelers but also result in fatal injuries," said Joginder Singh, who lives in a locality adjacent to GT Road.

Joginder Singh's Maruti car fell into a potholes on the 100-feet road and its rear tyre burst. "A dangerous pothole appears all of a sudden from nowhere on the city roads at many places. These potholes confuse the four-wheelers who are forced to suddenly steer their vehicle which usually hits the people riding beside the four-wheelers," said Ajitpal, a resident of Mansa road. 

He said that the roads leading to the bus stand from Bibiwala Chowk and Fauji Chowk besides Amrik Singh Road, Bhagu Road, Goniana Road, Mansa Road and the link roads are the most accident-prone on which potholes have not been filled by the authorities despite numerous accidents.

It is pertinent to mention here that an assistant professor lost his life in Ludhiana recently after the car he was travelling skidded off the road and plunged into Sidhwan Canal near South City. In similar road accidents, vehicles have plunged into the lakes of Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Plant. A tractor owner lost his life a few days after the vehicle along with the attached trolley fell into the lake.

PWD B&R officials in Bathinda said most of the city roads including the Mall Road fall under the jurisdiction of the Municipal Corporation and the corporation authorities are responsible for their care.

The Goniana-Chandbhan-Jaitu road is under the PWD B&R. Kulbir Singh Sandhu, an XEN with the department, while admitting to the existence of potholes in link roads, said, "We are waiting for the weather to improve to fill the potholes on a permanent basis as the cold wave proves to be hostile in laying or repairing the roads".

With the width of a mere 18 feet, the Goniana-Jaitu road is not wide enough and the ever increasing volume of traffic damages the temporary measures. 

Bathinda, December 31
The weather today took a dramatic turn in the city and its adjoining areas. The city woke up to a cloudy morning with a thin fog cover till late morning. The sky however, cleared in the afternoon and the sun shone brightly.

Surprisingly, the conjecture about this New Year’s eve being colder than the last year's was broken as the minimum temperature which was recorded at 0 degree Celsius on Monday, rose considerably at 6.4 degree Celsius. Meanwhile, the maximum temperature fell a little at 15.4 degree Celsius as against Monday’s 17.6 degree Celsius.

On New Year’s eve in 2012 was in fact, colder than this year. On December 31, 2012, the maximum temperature was recorded at 12.6 degree Celsius while the minimum temperature was at 4.6 degree Celsius.

On December 31, 2011, the maximum temperature was recorded at 20 degree Celsius while the minimum temperature was at 2.2 degree Celsius.

As per the latest forecast released by the Agri-Met Department of the PAU regional station, today, there is no possibility of the city getting respite from the biting chill and may receive rainfall over the next three days. 

Bathinda, December 31
Owners of the roadside eating joints are in a fix over the police verdict of not allowing anyone to consume liquor outside their eating points.

The roadside food vendors rues that if they stop their customers from consuming liquor then people would question their (vend owner’s) authority of not allowing them to consume liquor at the roadside.

People could be seen consuming liquor by parking their cars at public places in the evening outside the eating joints.

People continue to consume liquor near the Railway Station, Power House Road lights, Ghorewala Chowk, opposite three cinemas, near city lakes, Bibiwala Chowk, 100 feet road and around the railway station.

“People quarrel with me if I disallow anyone to consume liquor at the roadside as I am not an authority to stop them from consuming liquor. We only sell edibles to anyone who purchases it, how can we stop someone from consuming liquor outside our eating joints”, said an owner of the eating joint near Ghorewala Chowk.

The policemen from various police stations were seen making rounds of the eating joints to keep liquor consuming people at bay. Despite being a Tuesday (when many people not consume liquor) cops make repeated rounds and warning the non-vegetarian food sellers in the city.

The policemen asked the roadside food vendors to face action in case they fail to stop their customers from consuming liquor outside their vend.

It is pertinent to mention here that the police have registered cases against vend owners selling boiled eggs, non-vegetarian food and other edibles for allowing people to consume liquor near their rehris and vends.

The policemen said the drive to check liquor consumption at public places would continue till tomorrow as well as many people had planned to consume liquor tomorrow as New Year falls on Tuesday.

SSP Gurpreet Bhullar said the police was all geared up to curb any criminal activity on the eve of the New Year.

“All the senior police functionaries, including the police force, at all the police stations would be on the look to catch hooligans and youngsters involved into brawls and other criminal activities”, Bhullar said. 

Bathinda, December 31
Member of Parliament (MP) from Bathinda, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, is all set to begin the New Year with holding sangat darshans in villages of the district.

The MP would spend two days in the district listening to problems of the people and promising them to solve the problems. Only the time will tell whether the promises made fulfilled or not.

On January 1, the Member of Parliament will hold sangat darshans in Bhisiana, Virk Kalan, Jhumba, Bahu Yatri villages while on the second day of the new year, she will visit Sekhpura, Bhagwanpura, Fatehgarh Naubad and Chathewala.

During her sangat darshans, the Member of Parliament will be accompanied by officials from the administration, police department and other prominent government departments of the district.