DAILY EXCELSIOR, JAMMU SUNDAY, JULY 12, 2015 (PAGE 5)

Excelsior Correspondent

UDHAMPUR, July 11: Thealready bed ridden health careservices in Udhampur districthave virtually gone on life sup-port systems as not a singleMBBS doctor is available in 15PHCs which cover more thanhalf area of the entire districtwhereas more than three lakhsouls are dependent on thesePHCs. What is more astonishingis the fact that sweepers aremanaging sub-centres at manyplaces and what to talk of sav-ing precious lives, even thou-sands of rupees are required tobe spent for postmortem of thedead body in the area withoutany MBBS doctor.

In PHCs of Sudhmahadev,Latti, Bandhole, Dudu,Basantgarh, Joffar, Mongri(Tikri) Mongri ( Panchari),Rang, Barnara, Thial, Khoon,Landher, Panchari and Gharianwhich cater to nearly half of thedistrict area with above threelakh residents not even a singledoctor is physically presentagainst the sanctioned strengthof 60 as each PHC has foursanctioned posts of doctors.

Residents are facing prob-lems owing to the acute shortageof MBBS doctors and otherparamedical staff in the hospi-tals of Chenani, Panchari,Mongri, Ghordi and Ramnagar,and they have been regularlyprotesting but all have fallen todeaf and dumb ears of the con-cerned authorities.

“Our entire area of two sub-divisions of Dudu andBasantgarh and tehsil Latti start-ing from Sudhmahadev, whichis spread all along 160 Kmslong Sudhmahadev-Latti- Dudu–Basantgarh –Kulwanta-Ramnagar stretch of circularroad, does not have even asingle MBBS doctor physicallypresent to treat the patients insix PHCs. Sweepers are con-strained to give medicines inmany sub-centres in our areasas there is acute shortage ofparamedical staff also”, saidKrishan Lal Gupta resident ofLatti.

“In absence of MBBS doc-tors in this entire area, usuallywhen cardiac arrest or any otheremergency happens, we haveseen several deaths on route. Weare being treated as sheep andgoats as a sweeper gives usmedicine in the sub-centreshere. Letters to the ChiefMinister, Health Minister and alltop bureaucrats have yielded noresults. The CMO expresses hishelplessness every time whenwe meet him. Is this the indica-tion of good times comingahead”, said Bayant Devi ,Sarpanch of Chapper- BandholePanchayat in Latti area. “RamNath, a resident of ParlaChapper is presently forced togive medicines at health sub-centre Parla Chapper and is pop-ularly called as Doctor Sahib bythe illiterate resident of this farflung area but he is a sweeper inrecords of the State HealthDepartment,” she added andinformed that there are severalother sub-centres, which areeither closed or class- 4 employ-ees are running the show there.

In absence of a MBBS doc-tor, who is only authorized tocarry out a postmortem, in casean unnatural death occurs, res-

idents have to take the deadbody at least to Chenani forwhich rupees 1700 are to beofficially spent even for hiringGovernment ambulance service

and it takes more than a day inthis entire process. “We haveseveral times here in Latti col-lected donations from the mar-ket as poor attendants don’thave money in their pocket. Wealso personally met the HealthMinister recently and apprisedhim of all these problems but allin vain,” said Dina Nath, socialworker of the area.

Besides, only two beds arethere in the PHC Latti whichcaters to nearly a hundred OPDsevery day and the under con-struction building has not beencompleted for the last onedecade, he added.

“We have neither a MBBSdoctor in PHC Dudu nor anECG machine or a X-ray inthis entire area due to whichthese PHCs have turned out tobe nothing but just referral cen-tres and we have to travel morethan 100 Kms before gettingtreatment,” said Beg Raj Gupta,a whole sale merchant of Dudu.

MoS Finance and MLAUdhampur Pawan Kumar Guptasaid that he was fully aware ofall these problems in health caresector and had taken up theseissues with the Health Minister.“We hope some respite very

soon as saving precious liveshas to be the utmost priority ofthe Government”, he added.

“Health care services are vir-tually on life support system as

almost seven out of every 10posts of MBBS doctors in myconstituency are lying vacant.We have an Operation Theatrein Ramnagar hospital but of nouse as the posts of surgeon aswell as anesthesia doctors arelying vacant”, said R SPathania, MLA Ramnagar.

When contacted, ChiefMedical Officer Arun Sharmaconfirmed the shortage ofMBBS doctors and para medicalstaff in a number of hospitals.“Only 36 MBBS doctors arephysically present in the entiredistrict against sanctioned postsof 112 and even the highestauthorities in the health sectorare fully aware of this problem.All the MLAs had raised thisissue in the DDB Meeting whichwas chaired by the ChiefMinister himself and our HealthMinister who is the Chairmanof the DDB,” he said. Our pri-ority is to run district hospitaland the sub-hospitals ofRamnagar and Chenani wherewe have the largest number ofOPDs and sufficient infrastruc-ture available. I personally feelhelpless many a times but it isbeyond my authority”, headded.

Sweepers acting as doctors in sub-centres

No MBBS doctor in 15 PHCs of

Udhampur, 112 posts lying vacantGUWAHATI, July 11:

Union Home Minister RajnathSingh today painted a grim securi-ty situation in the country's borderwith Myanmar and Bhutan wherethere were reports of insurgents,weapons and drugs crossing overand said that his ministry was tak-ing measures to effectively man-age the international borders.

240 villages with over twolakh population within 10 km of

the Indo-Myanmar border wereliving without any worthwhilesecurity cover, Singh told a securi-ty meeting attended by the chiefministers of all NortheasternStates here.

"They are at the mercy of theinsurgents. A similar situation pre-vails along the India-Bhutan bor-der," he said calling upon theChief Minsters of the region to

pay attention to this crucial area ofsecurity.

"We must take care of thedevelopment along with the secu-rity of people living along theinternational borders. You wouldbe glad to know that under theBorder Area DevelopmentProgramme (BADP), we haveenhanced the share of the regionfrom 30 per cent to 40 per cent,"Singh, accompanied by his deputyKiren Rijiju said.

He said that a committeeheaded by Chairman of the JointIntelligence Committee (JIC) R NRavi had been constituted to sug-gest measures to effectively man-age the Indo-Myanmar border.

The committee is likely tosubmit its report within the nextfew days and the Governmentwould take action as per its recom-mendations, he said.

He suggested opening andstrengthening of police stations inthe border areas to instil a sense ofsecurity among the people, whichis crucial for successful imple-mentation of the Centre's 'Act-East Policy'.

The Union Home Ministeralso urged the Chief Ministers toprovide land for border fencing byacquisition on urgent basis wher-ever it was pending.

Singh said the region had ahuge stockpile of illegal firearmswhich were smuggled in fromacross the border and sold hereand beyond.

"Existence of illegal weaponswill encourage crimes and vitiatethe security eco-system of theregion. I would urge the ChiefMinisters to launch sustaineddrives against illegal weapons andmake their respective States freeof such arms," he said.

Noting that Mizoram,Tripura, large parts of Assam andArunachal Pradesh andMeghalaya are "almost free ofinsurgency", Singh said it wastime deployment of Central forceswas reduced in the Northeast.

"In the wake of improvementin security scenario, there is aneed to review deployment ofsecurity forces in the region. Atpresent the deployment is morethan it was when the insurgencywas at its peak," Singh told a con-ference of North East ChiefMinisters here.

The Home Minister asked the

Chief Ministers of the region toconduct a "realistic audit" of theCentral Armed Police Forces intheir states, assuring them of theCentre's help in the deployment ofthem "when actually needed".

Singh, who was accompaniedby his deputy Kiren Rijiju, alsosaid that there had been substan-tial strengthening of state policeforces in the past few years.

"Without compromising withthe security, we must plan toreduce deployment to make theenvironment easy and also toencourage positive thinking ofoutsiders about this region," hesaid congratulating the chief min-isters on their efforts to improvethe security scenario by bringingdown the level of insurgency to an"all time low".

Union DoNER Minister, DrJitendra Singh while givingresume of development activitiesundertaken in the North Eastregion, said that ever since hetook over the charge of thisMinistry a number of new andinnovative measures have beentaken to increase pace of develop-ment in the region.

"At the same time to bridgegap between North East Regionand rest of India unique initiative,for the first time in the country,was in the form of introducing aprocess of rotational camp secre-tariat. Under this process, by rota-tion camp is held every month ineach of the eight States in theregion", he said, adding "this willnot only help the officers ofDoNER Ministry to have on spotassessment of various develop-ment projects but will also send amessage that the people of NorthEast don't have to travel to Delhifor redressal of each of theirgrievances. While on the otherhand Delhi can travel to theirdoorsteps".

Among the new initiativestaken under the leadership ofPrime Minister Narendra Modi,Dr Jitendra Singh referred toorganic farming mission forwhich an amount of Rs 125 crorehas been earmarked. "The con-cept paper is under inter-ministe-rial circulation and soon the samewill be taken up for approval ofUnion Cabinet", he added.

In order to overcome thedelay occurring as a result of tech-nical approval from differentdepartments, the DoNERMinistry has hired services of aPSU, which will outsource thetask of technical vetting and pro-cessing, Dr Singh said.

He disclosed that under therecently launched RashtriyaAbhishkar Abhiyan, launched inNew Delhi on July 9, North Eastwill get one model scienceschool in each of the district ofthe region. Dr Singh alsoreferred to his regular interac-tion with each of the ChiefMinisters and the new initiativeof engaging the Delhi basedResident Commissioners ofNorth East States for follow upof projects relating to theirrespective States. (PTI)

Rs 125 cr earmarked for NE under organic farming mission: Dr Jitendra

Indo-Myanmar border villages at

mercy of insurgents: Rajnath

Directives to ensurefinancial disciplineExcelsior CorrespondentJAMMU, July 11:

Commissioner Secretary toGovernment, FinanceDepartment, Navin KChoudhary today issued direc-tives to ensure proper financialdiscipline and budgetary controlover the expenditure.

He said that whereverAccounts officers or ChiefAccounts officers are posted, thedrawing and disbursing powersof that office or institution shallinvariably be exercised by them.

He further directed that incase the AdministrativeDepartment has delegated thedrawing and disbursing powersto some other officers otherthan Accounts officer or ChiefAccounts officer, the same willbe deemed to have been with-drawn and delegated in favourof the said Accounts officer orChief Accounts officer.

The Commissioner furthersaid that the treasury officerswill not entertain any bills andother instruments of payment incase the same are not signed bythe Accounts officer or ChiefAccounts officer, whereversuch Accounts Officer or ChiefAccounts officer is posted.

PHE daily wagers hold protest,demand regularization

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, July 11: All J&K

PHE, ITI Trained & CP

Workers’ Association today held

a protest demonstration here in

front of Press Club, demanding

regularization of services of

about 16670 daily

wagers/ITI/CP workers of PHE

Department.

A large number of daily

wagers/ITI/CP workers of PHE

Department under the leadership

of president of the association,

Tanveer Hussain, assembled in

front of Press Club Jammu and

raised slogans against

Government and PHE authorities.

Addressing the protesting

workers, Hussain said that the

successive Governments in the

past showed indifferent attitude

towards the workers of PHE by

not regularizing services of

about 16670 daily

wagers/ITI/CP workers of PHE

Department despite made prom-

ises.

He further said that the pres-

ent Government is also adopting

the same attitude. He warned the

Government to launch ‘Kaam

Chhoro Hartaal’ if their demand

of regularization is not met

before the dead line given to the

Government by the Association.

Hussain further said that due

to the wrong policies of the

Government they and their fam-

ilies have reached on the verge

of starvation, as they have not

got their salaries for past 1-2

years. He further warned of

launching a massive protest if

the wages of the workers were

not release before Eid.

Others spoke on the occasion

were Deepak Gupta, Subhash

Chander, Kulbhushan Singh,

Manjit Singh, Chandan Singh,

Manish Abrol etc.

Daily wagers, ITI /CP workers of PHE Department during aprotest at Jammu on Saturday. -Excelsior/Rakesh

Sukhnandan visits rainaffected areas of Jammu city

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, July 11: Ministerfor PHE, Irrigation and FloodControl, Shuknandan KumarChoudhary today visited rainaffected areas of Jammu city andtook stock of the prevailing situ-ation.

The Minister visited JewelChowk, back side park of exhibi-tion ground, Narwal, Sunjwan,back side nallah of KC Hundai,Pamposh Colony and manyother rain affected areas. Heinteracted with the people andlistened to their grievances.

The Minister expressed seri-ous concern over the situationarising out of the recent incessantrains in various localities ofJammu city. He asked the con-cerned authorities to take meas-ures to prevent water logging andover flowing of drains. He saidthat the concerned authoritiesmust take the plight of people

seriously, in view of heavy lossessuffered by them. He said thatduring rainy season people faceproblems regarding water supplyand electricity, for which there isa need to take effective initiatives.

The Minister said that theGovernment is very much con-cerned about the prevailing situ-ation and the safety of the peo-ple. He assured the people thatGovernment will take every stepto improve drainage system andstreamline the water supply inthe vulnerable areas. TheMinister directed the concernedauthorities to take necessary andimmediate remedial measures tosave people of rain affected areasfrom further inconvenience.

S.E Hydraulic R.K Gupta,S.E Urban hydraulic SunilGupta, XEn Flood ControlJammu Division Nazir Ahmed,BJP Leader Vikram Randhawaand Subash Jandial accompaniedthe minister during his visit.

PHE Minister Sukhnandan Choudhary during visit to floodaffected areas of Jammu.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh along with UnionMinister for DoNER Dr Jitendra Singh addressing a press con-ference in Guwahati on Saturday. (UNI)

Only two beds at PHC Latti despite huge rush of patients.-Excelsior/Vasu Gupta

Contempt notice in promotion casesHC summons Secy

Agri, stops his salaryExcelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, July 11: JusticeTashi Rabstan of J&K HighCourt has summoned theCommissioner/ SecretaryAgriculture ProductionDepartment M A Bukhari toappear in person in a contemptof court case filed against him inthe promotion case of over 900odd Agriculture officers.

The Court also directed theGovernment to stop the salary ofthe Commissioner/ SecretaryAgriculture ProductionDepartment for the month ofJuly 2015. The court granted thefinal opportunity to the respon-dents to implement the judgmentand gave three weeks time forclearing cases to theCommissioner/ Secretary, failingwhich he shall have to appear inperson before the Court.

Justice Rabstan furtherobserved that from the compli-ance report in pursuance to thedirections of June 2, 2015, it hasbeen noticed that the judgmentof the court has not been imple-mented in the letter and spirit,which amounts to contempt ofCourt. Advocate S K Shuklaappeared on behalf of the peti-tioners while Dy AG K S Charakfor the respondents.

The case pertains to the pro-motion of a large number ofineligible candidates, bypassingthe seniority of many otherdeserving officers. Over 900Agriculture officers and majori-ty of them from Jammu regionhave been affected with this pro-motion order challenged by theCourt. This promotion scandalsurfaced in 2008 after someineligible officers were promot-ed on adhoc basis, ignoring

recruitment and promotionrules. A Govt order No. 279-Agri of 2008, dated 7/10/2008was issued during the Governorrule in the backdrop of a courtjudgment passed in clubbedcases titled Karanjeet Singh andothers vs State, dated 19-2-2008. The court had directed tofill all the promotional posts inAgriculture Gazetted Serviceson substantive basis within aperiod of six months strictly asper recruitment rules of 1988.

As per Govt order nearly 900promotions were effected withthis. Almost 650 promoted offi-cers were from Jammu divisionwhile those who were enjoyinglucrative posts, prior to thisorder were from Kashmir divi-sion. Later, after taking over byGH Mir as new Minister, somepeople hatched a conspiracy toundo the Govt order No. 279 of2008. An inquiry was alsoordered in this regard. TheGazetted officers mostly fromJammu were awaiting promo-tions for the last two decades butthe initial of 2008 order waskept in abeyance and status quowas enforced vide Govt OrderNo. 14 of 2010 dated 29-10-2010, in deference to interimcourt order. The High Court inits final order maintained thatGovt Order No. 279-Agri of2008 should remain in force butformer Agriculture Ministercontinued to carry out pick andchoose policy in violation of theHigh Court orders. A large num-ber of retired officers are alsofacing hardships as their claims/gratuity/ arrears after retirementhave not been settled.

Basic purpose of railway stationnullified: Hotel Association

Excelsior Correspondent

KATRA, July 11: In a meet-ing held under the chairmanshipof Shyam Lal Kesar, president,Hotel and RestaurantAssociation, Katra who said thatthe basic purpose of Shri MataVaishnodevi Katra RailwayStation for which it was madeand for which there was curiosi-ty among the people, had beentotally vanished and nullified bythe Railways, here.

The meeting said that rail-way station, even after its opera-tion of one year, merely one reg-ular long distance train and oneor two weekly trains had so farbeen started.

The president said the PrimeMinister Narendra Modi whenlast year opened this railway sta-tion had announced there thatsix pairs of trains would chug onthis route on day 1st but due tocheap policies even instead ofspending of thousands of croresof peoples hard earned taxmoney on Katra Railway Station

and on this line not even a singletrain was extended even fromUdhampur wherefrom the dis-tance is merely of 20 minutesnor from Jammu and even thishad come to the public noticethat empty trains for cleaningand washing were being sentfrom Jammu to Katra after de-boarding pilgrims at Jammu dueto heavy rush of trains inJammu.

The meeting said that pil-grims were being forced to taketaxis, buses, etc from Jammu toKatra and back to take the sametrain which came empty uptoKatra for washing and cleaningonly, causing heavy loss to theGovernment exchequer viz-a-viz inconvenience to theVaishnodevi pilgrims.

Among others who attendedthe meeting were Harish Dubey,Varinder Kesar, R S Nag,Sudershan Sharma, VivekSharma, Suraj Sharma, ShyamSharma, Karnail Singh andKaran Singh.