With medical degrees, these bureaucrats face Covid head-on
Deepkamal Kaur
Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, June 11
PLAYING A PIVOTAL ROLE
- The overall coordinator for the Covid-19 management from the administration side is Dr Shena Aggarwal, MBBS passout from AIIMS (2009 batch). She is the CA, Jalandhar Development Authority
- Both Dr Jai Inder Singh, SDM-1, and Dr Vineet Kumar, SDM, Phillaur, are BDS passouts
Dr Sanjeev Sharma, SDM, Shahkot, is a PhD with all his doctorate work on viruses
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In the ongoing fight against Covid-19, four civil officials posted here have been playing a pivotal role in handling the disease, especially because of their qualification and background. While three of them are qualified doctors, the fourth one has a doctorate degree on viruses.
The overall coordinator for the Covid-19 management from the administration side is Dr Shena Aggarwal, MBBS passout from AIIMS (2009 batch). Having remained the topper in AIIMS as well as in her IAS examination, the entire team of officials banks on her for managing duties, hospital beds and testing norms. Dr Shena Aggarwal is posted as the CA, Jalandhar Development Authority.
Both Dr Jai Inder Singh, SDM-1, and Dr Vineet Kumar, SDM, Phillaur, are BDS passouts. While Dr Jai Inder passed out from SGRD College, Amritsar, in 2009 and appeared for PCS examination in 2013, Dr Vineet passed out from the Laxmi Bai Institute of Dental Sciences in 2012 and joined the civil services in 2016.
Says Dr Jai Inder Singh, “Our professional qualification has certainly helped us in performing our roles amid the Covid outbreak. I have been the nodal officer for the Civil Hospital. Understanding all terms such as SARI and ILI, which doctors are using on a daily basis, was not at all a problem for us. We have ourselves worn PPE kits and entered wards to make arrangements for the entertainment of patients. We have counselled the patients a number of times and have even done contact tracing for many by taking their history.”
Dr Vineet shared, “As doctors, we could gauge how the disease was coming and what all planning we might have to do. There have been discussions on the WHO guidelines on preparing 1 per cent solution for sanitisation. So it is here, we could pitch in and help our teams understand what all it is about. When the disease initially came in my subdivision at Virk village, I was thoroughly involved in the management and we ensured that it is properly contained. The best part is that the Civil Hospital doctors and health workers do not treat you like any layman. Also, since there is a frequent change in the guidelines, we as doctors can better understand how to proceed and re-strategise things.”
Dr Sanjeev Sharma, SDM, Shahkot, is a PhD with all his doctorate work on viruses. “In this time, I could understand the behaviour of viruses, their mutations and how to keep safe. So I was tasked with creating awareness and preparing material for people to understand the problem and take precautions.”
