M A I L B A G

Pitiable condition of hospitals

A Maharashtra High Court judge’s recent outburst that it would be better to die at home than in a hospital depicts the sorry state of affairs of hospitals across the country. One often hears cases of patients’ death due to negligence of doctors and staff. They hardly bother about the patients’ economic condition and force them to cough up huge money before the treatment even in the case of emergency. Unnecessary tests like X-ray, blood test, etc. are done only to inflate the medical bill.

The government has failed miserably to provide quality medical service to the people though it spends lakhs of rupees on useless advertisements highlighting its so-called achievements. This extravagant practice must end and quality medical service should be delivered to the people at affordable rates.

RAMESH GUPTA, Narwana

II

I would like to bring to the attention of Punjab’s new Health Minister that a poor woman of a village near Khanna gave birth to a child in the open in Khanna’s Civil Hospital compound. The poor lady came to the hospital for help in her delivery, but the lady doctor refused aid. It is barbaric in the civil society that a lady delivers a child in the open.

In the Civil Hospital in question, there was no cotton, a basic need. The cotton packet is available in the open market for Rs 25-28. The state government or other agencies purchase it in bulk for Rs 75 a packet for the simple reason that its printed cost is shown at Rs 80. Even then, many hospitals don’t have this basic requirement.

BHARPUR CHAND GUPTA, Khanna

Bonds of slavery

The articles under the caption “Life on the edges” are highly commendable. The Tribune has covered the pathetic conditions of the labour prevailing in different spheres. The most touching and horrifying being the condition of bonded labour in the Mansa belt where the families are kept as slaves for decades by the farmers against non-payment of petty amount lent to them.

We are celebrating 100 years of Mahatma Gandhi’s Satyagraha in South Africa against oppression of our people. Is there no Mahatma Gandhi in India today who can take up the cause of these underprivileged in his own land and can relieve them of the bonds of slavery? Is there any Mohammed Yunus in India who can come to their rescue? Hope the state government will take note of this and come out with a suitable plan to rescue the hapless people from the bonds of slavery.

TEJA SINGH, Sahnewal, Ludhiana

Traffic challans

The general people are facing a lot of harassment regarding their traffic challans in the SDM’s court at Mohali. Every person has to go to the court time and again. The date mentioned in the challan has absolutely no meaning. We need to have a system that will not make people visit the SDM’s court time and again. The staff concerned must attend to the people on the two days designated for traffic challans and help those in distress.

S.S. BANDA, Mohali

 

CAS tag for pharmacy dept The UGC has accorded the status of Centre for Advanced Studies (CAS) to the University Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Panjab University (Feb 24). The sustained efforts of Dr Kham Singh Grewal, Professor of Pharmacology, King Edward Medical College, Lahore, and Dr Bashir Ahmad, PU Professor of Organic Chemistry, led to the opening of B. Pharm course in 1944. PU became second, next to Banaras Hindu University, to have this course. After Partition, instructional facilities were shifted to Amritsar and after 12 years, the Pharmacy Department was started at PU. The late Professor K.N. Gaind consolidated the institution and research for the next 17 years. In 1966, the UGC sponsored a seminar on “Recent advances in pharmaceutical sciences” at PU. Lala Suraj Bhan, the then VC, said: “The department is an active nucleus of pharmaceutical research”. He expressed the hope of organising the department into a CAS. An ambitious target was set. And the faculty worked with sincerity. The first reward came in the selection of the department for the Special Assistance Programme in 1983. Then came its selection for the COSIST programme in 1988. The department was christened as University Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences in 1994. Dr HARKISHAN SINGH,Professor Emeritus, Panjab University, Chandigarh