ROURKELA: Work on the upgradation of the RSP-run Ispat General Hospital (IGH) of SAIL into Super Speciality Hospital & Medical College (SSHMC) has finally started with the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) monitoring the project.
An amount of Rs 200 crore has been recently allocated under PM’s Swasthya Suraksha Yojana for infrastructure development of the hospital.
IGH, a well-equipped 685 bedded multidisciplinary hospital, is accredited by National Board of Examinations (NBE), New Delhi, for imparting Post Graduate DNB training in several disciplines and also runs a Nurses Training Institute (NTI). However, it has now been reduced to a referral hospital due to deteriorating medical services.
Rourkela BJP legislator and former Union Minister Dilip Ray said a high-level team of experts and architects had visited the hospital and submitted their report to SAIL and the Ministry of Steel outlining the requirement of infrastructure and medical equipment.
AIIMS, Bhubaneswar has been assigned the responsibility of introducing super-specialty services and developing the curriculum for the post graduate courses, Ray added.
Earlier this month, a team of consultant firm HITES (HLL Infra Tech Services Ltd) had inspected existing infrastructure of few departments of IGH. The team examined possibility of introducing super special treatment facilities along with post-graduate learning at departments of neurology, pulmonary medicines and burn care. The visit of HITES team came in the backdrop of the visit of a team of senior medical experts of the Union Government in June following direction of the PMO.
Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram, who is instrumental in expediting the pending project, said Principal Secretary to the PMO is monitoring it and expressed satisfaction at the present pace of progress. He said after being developed into SSHMC, the IGH would ensure advanced healthcare to people of Rourkela, Sundargarh district and beyond. SAIL and the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) would run the medical college jointly.
The PM had announced the project in April 2015. Under fire for no progress, SAIL in August last year had opened a super speciality clinic in disciplines of cardiology, oncology, neurology and nephrology to run on monthly scheduled dates with assistance of Apollo Hospitals, Hyderabad.
HOSPITAL AID
● Super speciality treatment services would be introduced in four departments and later three more departments would be covered.
● SAIL and the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) would run the medical college jointly.
● Former Congress MLA Pravat Mohapatra welcomed the development, but added that there is no cheer for poor patients as treatment is free for RSP employees while the others are charged at par with private hospitals.
Drought scare looms over the celebration of mass agrarian festival Nuakhai slated to be observed on August 26. With drought stalking districts of Nuapada, Balangir, Kalahandi and rain-fed areas of Bargarh, the peasants and marginal farmers have been robbed of their purchasing power.
On the other hand, the situation has come in handy for labour sardars who are on the prowl offering advance to lure gullible landless and poor peasants to migrate to alien lands promising greener pasture.
With no money in hand and aware of the impending drought, the landless and poor have been caught between poverty and tradition. While the helpless peasants need money to celebrate Nuakhai, they also have to sustain their families.
Caught in this dilemma, they land in the trap of labour sardars who offer them advance money for Nuakhai celebration and traffic them mostly to brick kilns where they are forced to work in inhuman condition.
With rains failing farmers in the districts of Nuapada, Balangir, parts of Kalahandi besides Padampur sub-division in Bargarh, it is said that the sardars will have a flourishing trade this year. With successive crop loss and debt burden haunting the farmers, the labour sardars are looking forward to traffic more people trapped in poverty and debt.
While Nuapada Labour Officer Mukta Lal Naik could not be reached, the lone clerk in his office said no labour contractor has applied for licence as yet in the district.
Similarly, Assistant Labour Commissioner, Balangir Saroj Ranjit said fresh registration of labour contractors has not yet begun. Registration will start after Nuakhai, Ranjit added.
BHAWANIPATNA: FOR the land grabbers, the immovable properties of deities are easy target. Fifteen temples of Kalahandi Group of Temples, managed by Odisha Hindu Religious Endowment, bear testimony to years of neglect and becoming victims of encroachment. Now there is an attempt by the group to recover the immovable properties of deities and renovate the temples, which need attention. This has raised new hope.
The group plans to renovate Ramswami temple, Balaji temple, Dakhina Kali, Bhawanishankar, Jagannath, Madanmohan, Tarini in Bhawanipatna, Lankeswari, Gopinath Jew, Kanak Durga, Someswar, Ramswami and Balaji temples in Junagarh and Manikeswari, Rameswar and Nilakantheswar temples in Thuamul Rampur.
Most of these temples were constructed during the 19th Century by the then kings of Kalahandi. Even after the merger of the princely states in Odisha, these temples were managed by the royal family. In the seventies, the former King handed over these temples to the Government along with 1,500 acres of land and valuables of the deities for the management and maintenance of the temples and also for performance of rituals. Despite having the potential of adequate returns, the situation remained grim.
According to the record of the Group of Temples, a large chunk of valuable agricultural land of the deities located in different villages under Bhawanipatna and Dharamgarh sub-divisions remained under the occupation of the encroachers. Besides, the encroachers are eyeing the land of the deities in prime locations of Bhawanipatna and Junagarh and these valuable lands are being systematically grabbed by people for construction of houses and for also business purposes.
In Bhawanipatna, out of 34 acres of Balaji temple land, more than 10 acres are under the illegal occupation of locals where both huts and buildings have been constructed. The rest of the areas are also under threat. Most of the lands of Kali temple, located in the heart of the town, are under also illegal occupation. The land of Ramswami temple is also not spared from land grabbers.
SAMBALPUR: The temporary campus of Indian Institute of Management, Sambalpur (IIM-S) will be shifted to Sambalpur University after September this year. At present, the premier institution is being run from a private institution, Silicon Institute of Technology (SIT), at Sason here.Informing this, Director of IIM-S Mahadeo Jaiswal said the institute will run from the Sambalpur University till permanent campus of IIM-S at Basantpur here gets ready. The permanent campus is likely to be ready within next three years while the work on the boundary wall has already started.
Jaiswal said they will soon sign an MoU with the Sambalpur University in this regard. The State Government has already allotted some buildings on university campus to run the IIM-S.
The Director said an elite B-school runs for 24 hours but they face problems in taking class during evening hours as the SIT is located in an isolated place. The faculty members of IIM-S could take classes in evening hours after shifting of the temporary campus to Sambalpur University. Moreover, permanent faculty members are being recruited.
The B-school requires modern class rooms for the students. However, IIM-S cannot upgrade the class rooms on temporary campus as the Government does not allow upgrading infrastructure in a private building. However, they can upgrade class rooms at the university, Jaiswal said.
Vice-Chancellor of Sambalpur University CR Tripathy said the draft copy of the MoU has already been sent to the Central Government for approval. Apart from providing building to run the IIM-S, hostel facility will be provided to the students, he added.
The University has already set up an action plan to promote research activities. Gangadhar Meher University (GMU), located in this Sambalpur, Odisha, has set up a special cell to promote research activities. “Earlier, the institution was a college and not much research work was undertaken. However, it has been upgraded to a university and the focus is on research. Hence, to promote and support research work, a Research Promotion Cell (RPC) has been formed,” said Member Secretary of the RPC, U C Pati.
An action plan has already been prepared by the newly formed RPC to promote research activities, he said.Established in 1944, the Gangadhar Meher College was upgraded to a university in May, 2015. The institution, which has 5300 students, offers undergraduate, postgraduate, M Phil and pre-doctoral courses besides self-financing and vocational courses.
The students of the university will benefit immensely with increasing research activities, Pati said. Apart from this, our institution will also participate in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) of the Union Human Resource Development (MHRD) ministry this year. The research activities will help the institution get a good ranking in the NIRF, added Pati.
Bhubaneswar, Aug. 12: Another case of dengue death was today reported from the SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack, while swine flu has already claimed nine lives in the state this year.
When the state is facing multiple health issues, a Bhubaneswar-based organisation, the Centre for Youth and Social Development (CYSD), has conducted a survey on the issue and challenges of primary heath care facilities in the two most backward districts – Kalahanadi and Balangir. The survey reveals how people are still not getting basic health services, including ambulance services.
The study was conducted in Balangir and Patnagarth constituencies of Balangir district and Narla and Junagarh constituencies of Kalahanadi district. The infamous Daana Majhi case that was reported last year, where Daana had to carry the body of his wife for nearly 12 kilometres after being unable to get the ambulance, was reported from Kalahandi district. In these four constituencies, a total of 37 primary health care centres have been selected by the organisation. The study covered primary health care centre, sub centres, villages and communities in these areas.
The expert team interviews 50 per cent of out patient department (OPD) patients visiting each PHC. The patients were selected on the basis of convenience and snowball sampling method. They were asked to share their satisfaction levels and experience at the primary health care centres. Total 370 patients (10 patients from each primary health care centres) were covered. Besides, the grassroots services providers – Accredited Social health Activists (Asha), auxiliary nurse midwives and anganwadi workers were interviewed on implementation of various government schemes.
They find unavailability of buildings as a major problem in imparting health care service to the patients. In absence of adequate and habitable staff quarters, it won’t be possible to put a check on doctor absenteeism and 24X7 primary health care centres won’t function smoothly. The primary health care centres need to be converted into 24X7 centres with in-patient department facilities.
Provision of safe drinking water and power back up (important in case of power failure during emergencies) are also major issues at the primary health care centres. The unavailability of diagnostic services and referral transport is causing a lot of difficulties for the people. While in some instances people are bound to pay higher prices in getting their medical condition resolved, in other cases, many are often showing lack of interest due to lack of money (thus, turning again to traditional healing methods or quacks).
The service providers also showed displeasure in many aspects. The doctors showed discontent regarding unavailability of staff quarters leading to daily commuting to the primary health care centres (few of them which are in remote areas).
Though medicines never run out of the stock and the quality of the medicine is good, the people don’t trust the quality of medicines as they think that government medicines are free and therefore, might be of poor quality. In many cases, doctors allegedly prescribe expensive medicines that patient parties have to buy from outside.
Asha and auxiliary nurse midwives are the health activists in the community who create awareness on health and its social determinants and mobilise the community towards local health planning and increase utilisaton and accountability of the existing health services. But these service providers face various issues at the ground level, such as communication problem, excessive field area and too much workload.
The survey report also alleges that the Asha workers are losing interest and motivation to carry out their regular duties as they are not getting incentives at the right time. Some of them also remained absent on the MAMATA Divas which is held on the second Friday of every month. Due to this continuous absenteeism, the beneficiaries have started losing trust on Asha workers.
Another major issue is lack of ambulance facilities and the people depend on their own bikes and bicycle, to reach to hospitals. Lack of ambulance facilities often turn out to be fatal for pregnant women. The status of 102 and 108 ambulance services is in highly deteriorated condition and people have been grossly disappointed.
CYSD co-founder Jagadananad said: “The study is an attempt to understand the nuances of the primary health care services provided at the grassroots and to gather the perceptions of the community regarding the services like access to health, infrastructure, human resources.”
Delivery in auto-rickshaw
A woman of Sunakhandi Tikarpada village in Kalyansighpur block of Rayagada district delivered a baby in an auto-rickshaw on her way to the hospital on Saturday. Her family members alleged that though they called the 102 ambulance service to rush her to Kalyansinghpur Community Health Centre after she complained of labour pain, the ambulance did not turn up.
Forest officials say the work by Majhi and local tribals in Kalahandi is an important step in guarding the forest resources. In a region where deprivation sweeps away any shred of hope and optimism, Kartik Majhi stands out.
The septuagenarian Kondh tribal from Kalahandi’s Boringpadar village may not have studied much, but has brought cheer and hope to a place where death is an annual feature.
In 1979, Majhi started planting sapling on the 97 acre barren land adjoining a hillock near his village with support from the Nehru Yuva Kendra. Villagers who used to grow millet on that land had no idea what Majhi was up to, but grudgingly came around to support him for next three years.
Some 35 years later, the 97 acres of once-barren land near his village is home to a luxuriant forest consisting of Sal, Teak, Acacia, Chakunda and several other timber and fruit-bearing trees. In the process, he showed the ability of free Indians to battle the most adverse of circumstances, and the transformation that takes place when society and state collaborate.
Epicentre of starvation
Kalahandi in the 60s was known as Ethiopia of India for its acute starvation triggered by long periods of drought. After a particularly protracted spell of drought in 70s and 80s that forced poor parents to sell their children, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi visited the region. While its forested landscape was being slowly eroded by timber smugglers who valued the rich Kalahandi teak, the shifting cultivation of tribals took its toll on the forest cover
“When I was young I came to realise that without rains we would not have any hope. My father told me that the only way we can have regular rains is through forests,” said Majhi. This was the time when a young Majhi got serious about ways to prevent drought.
An old picture showing Manjhi and others planting saplings (HT photo)
With some handholding by local forest officials and help from Nehru Yuva Kendra in Bhawanipatna, Majhi and his elder brother Bali through Boringpadar Yuvak Sangha started planting saplings on the barren land, that was recorded as forest in government files. Soon the rest of the villagers joined in. The remunerations were not great – all that the villagers got was a sack of potatoes and two sacks of rice.
“At times when people were not willing to go for planting, I used to mortgage my umbrella and utensils at home to pay people and a security guard to keep an eye on the saplings,” said Majhi, standing next to a sal tree which he planted. Tejiraj Pradhan, a young farmer, still remembers how he used to plant saplings with Kartik mausa.
The transformation
Ten years later as the saplings grew in length, the once-barren area sported a different look. “It was like seeing a desert bloom,” said Majhi’s friend Kirtan Majhi.
Impressed with his work in creating a forest out of a barren land, the forest department in late 90s entrusted Boringpadar Yuvak Sangh the task of looking after the 500 hectares of reserve forest near his village. The villagers also keep an eye on another 500 hectares of forest near the hills adjacent to the village.
Forest officials say the work by Majhi and local tribals in Kalahandi is an important step in guarding the forest resources.
“Creating a forest and guarding can never be done by the forest department if individuals like Majhi are not involved. A forest guard is supposed to guard an area of 20-25 km. Is it possible on his part to keep an eye on so large an area,” asked Suresh Pant, regional chief conservator of forests of Bhawanipatna.
Preserving the legacy
Despite efforts by Majhi, old-timers of the district are not so hopeful of seeing the luxuriant forest cover of mid-80s when 50% of its geographical area was under forest cover. The last Forest Survey of India published in 2015, put the forest cover at 30%. “The success of people like Majhi is important, but it’s very difficult to get back what we lost,” said former Kalahandi MP Bhakta Charan Das.
Now 75, Majhi can’t walk properly and has problems in his sight. But his son Shankar seems to have inherited his father’s legacy as he goes to the forest with his friends to keep an eye on anyone cutting forests. This year a dozen villagers entered the reserve forest area and tried to cut the trees. They were promptly fined Rs 6,000 by the Yuvak Sangh volunteers.
Majhi says forests are intrinsic to the well-being of tribals. “We can’t always travel to the hospital in Narla block, which is 15 km away. If we suffer from malaria, we take crushed leaves of Nyctanthes, black pepper mixed with honey. The forests give us everything. Jungle is mangal for us,” said Majhi.
Kosal Discussion and Development Forum 