Thursday, March 11, 1999
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REGIONAL BRIEFS | Thursday, March 11, 1999 |
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Even doctors shun them like the plague "IF God has been unkind to us so have fellow human beings". This is how inmates of the Leprosy Home in Ambala city convey their feelings about the treatment being meted out to them. The Leprosy Home, located in the city's Sector 7, Urban Estate, was inaugurated on April 13, 1969, by Mrs Indira Chakravarty, wife of the then Haryana Governor, Mr B.N. Chakravarty. At present, 32 inmates including 21 women, are living at the home, which is looked after by the district Red Cross Society. Some of them are still afflicted with the disease and are provided free treatment. The home is a contrast with the surrounding fashionable locality. Most of the 35 dwelling units and the community hall in the sector are in a dilapidated state (see photo). Almost all the houses leak when it rains and fear of a roof collapse always looms large. For the past six years, no repairs have been carried out. The stinking toilets are a big nuisance, says Ms Selbi, a lady worker at the home. The doctors, who are supposed to make regular checkups of the inmates, seldom pay visits. Each inmate is paid Rs 400 per month as subsistence allowance. Considering the increasing cost of living, the amount is too small, says Mr Dinanath, pradhan of the colony. The inmates are prohibited from begging and the meagre grant is insufficient to make both ends meet, more so when electricity bills are high, he points out. To make inmates self-sufficient, some handloom "khaddis" have been installed at the home. But since little attention was paid, with the passage of time, the "khaddis" fell into disuse and have been abandoned. Vacant land has been put to use by the inmates by growing vegetables. To mitigate their sufferings that the Deputy Commissioner, Mrs Navraj Sandhu, recently constituted a committee. Renovation work of the home was started by her on March 1. A member of the committee, Mr Kirti Prasad Jain, says Rs 1.77 lakh has been collected for the repair of 46 rooms at the home. Mrs Sandhu hopes that renovation work would be completed by March 31 to make the home a better living place. Rare surgery on bladder A rare surgical feat was performed by Dr Rajan Soni of Soni Hospital, Rajpura, recently when he treated a patient of bladder cancer by carrying out a marathon seven-hour open surgery. During the operation, the cancerous urinary bladder was removed after devascularisation. Both sides of the kidneys were dissected, prepared and implanted into a small loop of the small intestine. It was brought out of the right side of abdomen for urination. The patient, Basanta Ram, who works as electrician in Punjab Public School, Nabha, says he suffered from the disease for the past one year. Besides pain, he frequently passed blood in the urine due to which his health was deteriorating . Dr Rajan Soni says this was the first operation of the kind performed in this region and that too at a private hospital. He drew his inspiration from renowned urologist, Dr Carl Obeson, who gave a live demonstration of similar surgery during the Usicon conference at PGI, Chandigarh, in February 1998. He says the Punjab Public School management rendered all possible assistance in the treatment of the patient. Dr Rajan Soni is the grandson of Dr B.S. Soni, founder-principal of Dayanand Medical College, Ludhiana. Shimla pensioners fight for dues A number of
retired employees of the Shimla Municipal Corporation are
running from pillar to post , but in vain. No family
pension, gratuity, provident fund, leave encashment or
any other benefits has been given to them for the past
two years, says Mr H.L. Sethi, convener of the
Pensioners’ Association. The procedure and time framework adopted is obsolete as the settlement of pension cases should not take more than a few months, feel most pensioners. No parallel or simultaneously required action is taken for the payment of gratuity, leave encashment and provident fund by the corporation officials while sending the pension papers to the Directorate of Urban Local Bodies. The case of employment on compassionate ground, if applicable, is moved to the government for sanction, always takes a considerable time and till its determination no action is taken to release any of the immediate benefits, what to talk of settlement of pension. The payment of leave encashment takes five to six months as the case is dealt only after the payment of gratuity. And it is only thereafter that the file is moved for the release of the provident fund, which takes at least another six months. Lastly the pension papers are supplied to retiring employees or family pensioners who have to fend for themselves to have these forms completed for submission, and to be at the mercy of officials concerned for forwarding them to the directorate. In a number of instances, after the retirement or demise of some employees , pension cases are not settled at all as these are still not forwarded to the directorate or if sent these are found with incomplete, says Mr Sethi, who also retired earlier this year and awaits pension. But the corporation Commissioner denies any such delay. "In some cases it is the employees who have not sent their papers", she says. "And the pension papers we have, already forwarded to the Accountant- General’s office", she adds. "All cases of provisional pension are settled but the delay in release of final pension is not denied". (Contributed
by Jai Parkash Mann, Jupinderjit Singh and Kanwar
Yogendra) |
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