Round The States
New Delhi, 6 August 2009
Swine Flu Death
STATES ON HIGH
ALERT
By Insaf
All States have been put on high alert following the
country’s first swine flu casualty in Pune, causing widespread panic. The death
of 14-year-old Rashida Shaikh has not only forced the Maharashtra Government to
declare a swine flu epidemic in two districts—Pune and Satara, but has made the
Union Health Ministry wake up from its slumber. The latter has issued fresh
guideline to prevent further spread of the disease following long queues of
people thronging designated hospitals for a check-up. Not only in Pune, but
also in Delhi
and Chennai The panic has come to such a pass that even those who suffer from
just a sniffle do not want to take any chances. Shockingly, a TV expose has
bared the truth about some States’ lack of preparedness in dealing with this
deadly disease: In Patna, the designated Centre was locked, in Chennai the
doctors at the hospital were clueless about treatment and in Delhi there were no signboards to direct
patients to the separate screening centres earmarked for the H1N1 strain.
Clearly, the fault rests at the Health Ministry’s doorstep
as it treated the swine flu issue very casually. Not only have people not been
educated on the virus and the preventive measures to be taken, but the health
authorities approach has been lackadaisical. At the immigration section of the International Airport on Tuesday last, Insaf found that there were only two
doctors present, basically collecting forms from passengers about their travel
details and whether they had a cough or cold. They didn’t take the trouble to
even question the passengers, leave aside undertake a check-up! The big
question is: Are the fresh guidelines issued now enough? In a major departure from
the earlier procedure, the Ministry has said that people showing mild signs of
swine flu — cold, cough, fever etc would no longer be quarantined in designated
hospitals till their sample results are known. They could go home. In effect,
hoping that people would not fear getting tested. Are the hospitals geared to
take the pressure?
* * * *
Political Warfare
In Himachal
Himachal Pradesh is in the throes of a political warfare
between the ruling BJP and the Congress. The State Government has lodged a
corruption case against Union Steel Minister and five-time Congress Chief
Minister Virbhadra Singh and his wife, Pratibha Singh, former Congress MP. The
“evidence” -- a two-decade old audio recording which allegedly contains the
Singhs’ conversation with a retired bureaucrat, now dead, about money
transactions. It’s an act of “political vendetta”, responds Singh, while Chief
Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal rubbishes it on grounds that the voice in the CD is
confirmed by the Central Forensic Science Laboratory. Interestingly, the said
CD was released by Virbhadra’s friend-turned-foe former Minister Vijay Singh
Mankotia way back in May 2007. Even as the top leaders battle it out, Congress
workers in Shimla are gearing up for the fight and lodge protests for the
“frivolous” charges and the BJP is all set to go on the offensive on the issue
of corruption. Will the law take its own course?
* * * *
Imphal on The Boil
Fake encounters have now set Manipur’s Imphal on fire. The
Capital in this North-eastern
State has been put under
indefinite curfew following widespread violence, leaving 40 protestors injured
in clashes with the police. The protests erupted after a Delhi weekly carried photographs showing a
former People’s Liberation Army (PLA) militant, ostensibly killed in a police
encounter, unarmed. Leading the
protestors to surmise that he was killed in cold blood. Worse, a pregnant woman
too was killed in an alleged fake encounter. As a result of the protests,
normal life has been disrupted for the past 48 hours, with shops and business
establishments closed and transport services between Manipur and neighbouring
States cancelled. To prevent the protests from spilling to adjoining areas,
Chief Minister Ibobi Singh has ordered a judicial probe by a sitting judge of
the Gauhati High Court. Will this suffice?
* * * *
Assam Cong Upbeat
The Congress in Assam has reason to be upbeat. It
has won the municipal elections with a thumping majority in the State. The
Party, under Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, outshone its rivals by huge margins.
It won 408 seats as against Asom Gana Parishad’s 87 and BJP’s 59 tally.
Importantly, the State Election Commission statistics show that the while the
Congress won a majority in 20 municipal committees, the AGP and the BJP managed
to do so only in one each. In town committees too, the Congress was way ahead
of its competitors, reposing its confidence of “people’s acceptability” after
the Lok Sabha poll, wherein it had got one seat less than its 2004 tally. Both
the AGP and BJP have reason to be worried, not only for the drubbing they got
but the fact that even the Independents’ tally of 89 was better than theirs!
* * * *
Maharashtra’s Dalit Plan
Maharashtra will take the lead in curbing atrocities
strictly against Dalits, if its recent decision is effectively implemented and
yields desired results. Early this week, the State Government resolved to
invoke tough provisions of the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes (Prevention
of Atrocities) Act 1989, and fine an entire village if an atrocity is reported
from there. This apart, the Administration could hold back the development
funds of the village. The decision follows statistics revealing a steady
increase in the number of atrocities against the SCs: from 689 in 2004 to 844 in 2005, 1,001 in
2006 and 1,173 in 2008. Atrocities against STs, too ranged between 233 and 286
during the same period. While the villages will form their own vigilance
committees, the District Magistrates have been asked to implement the
provisions strictly. With the State having the second largest Dalit population
after Uttar Pradesh, will BSP supremo Mayawati follow suit instead of building
statues only?
* * * *
States Review 3-tier
Education System
The Human Resource Development Ministry’s proposal to set up
educational tribunals may require some reworking, as the Bill is currently
being examined by the States. While initial reactions from States to the
concept of tribunals have been positive, there appears to be some disagreement
over the three-tier system. At the bottom of this structure is the district
educational tribunal, which envisages a tribunal in each district, so that
complaints from the area can be heard. Few States, including Gujarat
and Orissa have objected to this district tribunal on grounds that there won’t
be enough work to merit a separate body. This is so because each higher
education institution is supposed to have a grievance redressal mechanism as it
is and the district tribunal may be superfluous. Instead, a two-tier system would
suffice.---INFA
(Copyright,
India News and Feature Alliance)
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