ESI hospital to open on October 1
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 24
With the completion of the Rs 3.83 crore ESI (Employees State Insurance) hospital at Ram Darbar area being delayed time and again, the authorities are keeping their fingers crossed as the launching of the first phase of the “jinxed” project is slated for October 1.

The construction of the ESI hospital, land for which was allotted by the UT Administration way back in 1992, has faced rough weather ever since. Despite setting of deadlines for launching of the hospital, on a number of occasions, it has not seen the light of the day. The hospital authorities are now hopeful that after getting a water connection at the earliest, the OPD block should start functioning by October 1.

While work on the construction of the hospital is till under way, it is after paying an amount of Rs 28 lakh to the Municipal Corporation for the water bill that the issue has been settled. The hospital authorities had not applied for a regular connection till recently.

The Medical Superintendent of the hospital, Dr Ramesh Chand, said that with the sorting of the water problem the OPD would begin by next month. He assured that the other wings of the hospital, too would be completed in a phased manner as a number of procedures had to be followed .

Though in most of the cases, it is the state governments which run the ESI hospitals, in case of the Ram Darbar Hospital, the ESI Corporation has decided to take the responsibility in its own hands. “It is after the UT Administration backed out, stating that it did not have the required staff and funds to run the hospital, that the ESI was left with no option but to start on its own,” said a source in the ESI.

Dr Chand, however, said that now the ESI Corporation had decided to run at least one hospital in each state on its own. He said that this practice was being followed in Delhi, Kolkata and some other cities. He revealed that there were 30,000 insured persons (IP) with the ESI in the city, which meant that along with their family members the number of people who would avail the medical facilities here would be over one lakh.

The construction of the 50-bed hospital has been undertaken by Punjab Small Scale Industries and Export Corporation. Though the authorities have decided to start the hospital in a phased manner but their problems are still not over as more staff would be required to take on the workload. Since, it will take some time for the hospital to be fully functional, initially the specialists have been appointed on a part time basis.

Even the appointment of the para medical staff on contract basis would be as per requirement, till the regular staff is recruited. Those associated with the running of the hospital point out that without the assistance of the UT Administration, it would take quite some time before the hospital can start running smoothly.

The main objective of the ESI hospital, which would provide medical facilities to employees in private companies and factory labour, is to provide general specialities, while for super speciality cases would be referred to other institutes.

The hospital will have OPD, diagnostic and indoor facilities, casualty, operation theatres, pathology, X-ray and other facilities.

Kids eat burgers, fall sick
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, September 24
As many as six students of Sophia International School here fell sick on September 21 after they consumed burgers at a popular fast food joint in Sector 5 here.

Now, samples of the food items purchased from this joint have been sent to local health authorities for a chemical test, informed Principal, Mr. S. Chopra. He said a picnic had been organised for students at Vatika, where some children bought burgers from a popular joint there.

A number of children fell sick and began vomitting. The children were administered first aid at the school and six of them — Nitish, Himanshu, Swati, Heena, Neelima and Suraj — were rushed to General Hospital, Sector 6.

It is learnt that school authorities then took sample of burger, along with bill, to agreement medical officer. Since he was not available, the sample was deposited with the doctor on duty. The next day being a Sunday, the sample could not be sent to a laboratory. We were later told that the sample has been sent to Government Laboratory in Sector 11, Chandigarh, said Mr Chopra.

Mr Chopra said he had sent a letter to the Chief Medical Officer, Panchkula, asking him to expedite the testing and requested him to take action against the owners of the fast food joint.

Senior citizens flex muscles
Our Sports Reporter

Chandigarh, September 24
It was a lively experience for more than 250 senior citizens, including 60 women, when they participated in the brisk walking contest here this morning at the Sukhna. According to Major-General MS Kandal (retd), chairman, organising Committee, all participants, all more than 60 years of age, flexed their muscles to stay ahead.

The walking contest was organised jointly by the Chandigarh police and the Chandigarh Senior Citizens Association. There was no entry fee to participate in the competition. Earlier, the UT Administrator, Lieut-General J.F.R. Jacob (retd), flagged off the walk. Mr Bhim Sain Bassi, Inspector General Police, UT, had interaction with the participants on diverse topics. He also distributed prizes to the winners.

A handicapped woman, Gurdeep Kaur, braved more than one km in her age group 70-74 years, which was appreciated by many participants and others present on the occasion. She walked with the cruches.

The winners of various age groups for men were: 65-69 — Madan Lal; 70-74 — Jatinder Singh; 75-79 — Harbans Singh, 80-84 — Pritam Singh. In women section, the winners were — 60-64 — Baljit Kaur; 65-69 — Prakash Kaur; 70-74 — Sheela Chowdhry and 75-79 — Santosh Bidani.

Peddlers of Manav Mangal High School, Sector 21, who won the under-17 title in the UT Inter-School TT Tournament in Chandigarh on Tuesday.