New Delhi, September 3
Rushing early and standing in long queues to seek a patient appointment at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, (AIIMS) New Delhi, may be a thing of the past as the country's premier hospital today launched its pre-registration portal for patients' appointments and admissions.

The AIIMS has initiated a series of patient-friendly steps this month by adopting e-healthcare way.

The patient portal will enable easier and accelerated registration of patients and assign them a temporary Unique Health Identification Number (UHID) which once generated is shown at the registration counter on the day of visit.

AIIMS has also integrated its in-patient and OPDs appointment booking for both new and old patients starting September 1 on a unified platform. Making the process further easier, it has operationalised an Integrated Voice Response (IVR) system on a pilot basis for appointments in all departments except ophthalmology which is still to be on board.

"The IVR has been functional in Hindi and English for 10 days and today we have received 1500 calls. The whole AIIMS becomes open to patients," Dr. Deepak Agarwal, Chairman E- Computerisation, AIIMS.

"All the system of appointments for OPD clinics and patient admissions has been brought on a single platform. All the OPDs have been computerised. Of the total over 7,000 patients seen daily at AIIMS, we are registering 3,000 new patients and four thousand old every day and we are bringing them all on one system," stressed Dr Agarwal.

"Ours is a scientific way and this is exactly how railways and banking sectors have revitalised themselves too. Around 55 nurses have been put on the supervisory job apart from those involved in registration work. We are seeking services of National Informatics Centre in the work," said AIIMS director Dr MC Misra.

The outcome is the result of nearly six months exercise and aims towards ensuring more accountability, transparency and streamlining of patient services, noted Dr. Agarwal while adding that AIIMS on a pilot basis in geriatric and medicine departments has started displaying daily appointments of every doctor outside the room.

New Delhi, September 3
More than two thousand employees of the Delhi government who served as backhand support during the assembly elections in December last year are yet to receive the remunerations for their service.

What's more, the election funds to the tune of Rs 70 to 85 crore are waiting for clearance as the Delhi Finance department has placed them under several objections. The tussle between the Finance department and the Deputy Commissioners (DCs) in various districts has withheld the payment of expenditures done under various heads during the elections by the district offices.

"There is unreasonable disparity in the bills sent by the different districts under particular heads. If one district has spent a particular amount on one thing, the other has incurred ten times of it. There has to be some balance," said a senior Finance department official. The department has sought clarification from the DCs on the bills sent by them.

There are 11 districts in the city which had initiated several initiatives this time for enhancing the awareness level of the voters. The election office has adopted a sustained and Systematic Voters' Education and Electoral Participation strategy to increase people's contribution in the electoral process.

Similarly, the support staff of the assembly election who worked for more than a month have not been given their remunerations. There is difference of opinion on the payment of remunerations between the DCs and the Finance department that is causing the delay. "The DCs want the staff to be paid a one month's gross salary as the compensation, whereas, the Finance department wants to give only one month's basic salary," said a top official of Delhi Chief Electoral Office (CEO).

According to some sources, the DCs have complained of political biasness and said the funds are intentionally delayed. "They (DCs) believe that these officers are Congress-appointed staff and hence unfairly targeting them for the party's drubbing in the election," the CEO official said.

The election funds for the Lok Sabha elections are also placed under similar objections.

New Delhi, September 3
A 20-year-old national kabbadi player, Deepti Yask, died after being hit by a car while she was crossing a road in south Delhi, the police said today.

The incident took place at about on Monday afternoon, according to the police. Following the accident, Deepti was taken to a nearby hospital, where she was declared dead.

Deepti was living with her family at C block of Sultanpur Colony in Mehrauli. Her father Upendra Shastri is a principal of Saraswati Vidya Mandir school at Jhandewalan. Deepti had won 40 medals and certificates in kabbadi.

She was pursuing Bachelor of Arts from Kamla Nehru College at Delhi University.

The car driver, Nalini Aggarwal (50), surrendered before the police after she had allegedly fled from the spot.

The police said that at about 1.40 pm on Monday, Deepti's classes were over and she was going to her residence when a silver-coloured Polo car hit her.

An eyewitness named Pankaj Dheer (57) informed the police about the incident. Dheer who is a computer engineer alleged that when he moved from Siri Fort to August Kranti Marg, he saw the Polo car running over the girl.

In his complaint to the police, Dheer said that he stopped another car and asked the driver to take the victim to a nearby hospital. He then placed a call to the police.

Deepti was taken to the AIIMS where she was declared dead.

New Delhi, SeptEMBER 3
Two Delhi Police personnel, including a woman sub-inspector, have been arrested and two constables detained for allegedly demanding a bribe of Rs 2 lakh from a Punjab-based businessman.

The arrests were made following the complaint of the victim, Jaspreet Singh, to the South District police over being framed in a prostitution racket.

Jaspreet was staying at a hotel in Mahipalpur when a police team knocked on his room's door claiming to be conducting a raid. The accused claimed that they were from the Delhi Police Crime Branch and they were there on a tip-off that there were prostitution rackets running in the hotel.

They had told Jaspreet and some other couples that they would be taken to a police station. They were taken near Teri University in Vasant Kunj and the accused allegedly told Jaspreet that he would be allowed to leave after a bribe of Rs 2 lakh. He, however, had Rs 40,000. Jaspreet gave the money and agreed to pay the entire amount within two days.

A case under the Indian Penal Code sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 384 (extortion), 419 (cheating by personation) and 506 (criminal intimidation) was registered at the Vasant Kunj North police station.

The police probe revealed that the accused were policemen. Sources claimed that the female sub-inspector is posted in a Delhi Police Crime Branch team. The other arrested accused is an assistant sub-inspector.