Cancer Care:Hospital offers EMI scheme

Hospital offers EMI scheme for cancer care

Stanley G Pinto | TNN

Mangalore: You must have heard about EMI schemes for housing, vehicles, white goods loans and clothing. What about EMI for cancer care?

Health Care Global (HCG), a cancer care network in South Asia, is introducing EMI facility for treatment, that too without interest. Dr BS Ajai Kumar, chairman and CEO of HCG, told TOI the EMI facility is available in Bangalore and it will soon be available in Delhi and Ahmedabad.

So how does it work? First, HCG evaluates the patients economic condition. ‘‘Our goal is not to deny treatment to any patient for lack of money. Usually, patients from lower-middle class cannot afford cancer care, which runs into lakhs. We let them decide how much they can pay in EMIs and ask them to stick to it,’’ he said. The doctor said, ‘‘There’s also a section of patients who cannot pay much. For them we help through the HCG Foundation.’’ Recently, an auto driver from Mysore availed of the benefit.

Dr Ajai, a key member of the Task Force which spearheads the health and welfare development of Karnataka, said the idea generated from the micro-credit scheme he had started for rural women in Gundlupet near Mysore. It was part of a World Bank project to provide health care for women in 2000.

‘‘We documented that major source of their expenditure was loans. They borrowed in the four months of distress at 60% interest,’’ he said. Regarding cancer, Ajai said according to WHO, cancer will overtake cardiac disease as the major killer in the next decade and it will be prominent in India and China. The oncologist attributes this to changes in lifestyle. ‘‘The affluent disease like colon, breast cancer and lung cancer will hit the rural population when they go mainstream,’’ he warns.

Dr Ajai, a BC Roy awardee, says the advent of cyberknife, which delivers precise dose of radiation to targets thereby avoiding the healthy tissues, will help manage cancer like diabetes, blood pressure and asthma.

Deaths of children in the cotton fields of Gujarat: GOVT APATHY

GOVT APATHY CONTINUES

5 more die in Bt cotton fields of Gujarat

Rao Jaswant Singh | TNN

Jaipur: Barely a week after TOI first reported the deaths of children in the Bt cotton fields of Gujarat (August 28), five more deaths have been reported from the area, taking the total number of those dead in just over a month to 10. A majority of the dead are children, including six girls.

All those who died had been trafficked from Udaipur-Dungarpur-Banswara region of Rajasthan. They were taken to work in the Bt cotton fields at Gujarat’s Banaskantha district, when the cross-pollination season began July-end.

Ironically, even after so many deaths, the district administration has failed to check the migration and initiate action against middlemen, who take children from Rajasthan to Gujarat.

Dakshin Rajasthan Majdoor Union, a social organisation working for migrant workers, has been spreading awareness and also helping the affected families in their fight for justice. Executive member of DRMU, Sudhir Katiyar, told TOI that the deceased workers included Bhuri Ben (14), Haju Ben (16), Madi Ben (16) and Ramesh (14) — all from Dungarpur district — and Basu Hakra Kharadi (13) of Udaipur, Rekha Adela (19) and Nathi Ben (40) of Udaipur, Raju Nemchand (21) of Banswara and an unidentified child worker.

Preliminary investigation by the NGO revealed that Basu Hakra died after congestion and respiratory problems, Rekha and Raju died under mysterious conditions while Nathi Ben died due to snake bite, but no postmortem was done in her case.

Katiyar said though police have registered a case, investigation is still on. ‘‘The cotton field owners are strong enough and police are hand in glove with them,’’ he alleged.In two days, seven Maha farmers kill self

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Farmers’ deaths in Maharashtra: Government apathy

Nagpur: With less than 40 days left for Maharashtra assembly elections, the farmers’ suicide crisis is raising its ugly head once again. Seven farmers committed suicide in the last two days in various parts of Vidarbha region, taking the this year’s toll to 638, an NGO that tracks suicides claimed on Saturday.

Vidarbha is facing a severe drought. Yavatmal district, the epicentre of the farm suicide crisis, is worst-hit with a rainfall deficiency of about 40%. ‘‘The rains in last 10 days brought some hope as it ended a prolonged dry spell. But the damage has already been done.

The unprecedented shortfall in monsoon has led to a large-scale pest attack destroying standing crop of soyabean and cotton, the two main cash crops of the region,’’ said Vidarbha Janandolan Samiti president Kishore Tiwari.

‘‘The mealy bug has not spared the high-cost genetically modified Bt cotton seed in Vidarbha this year. More than 90% farmers took to Bt seeds believing the claims of it being safe from pest attacks. But despite farmers spraying pesticide almost on alternative days, the crop has been ruined,’’ Tiwari told TOI from Pandharkawda, a main cotton growing centre in Yavatmal.

Delhi Govt helpline fails to stem capital’s tree-felling spree

Govt helpline fails to stem capital’s tree-felling spree

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: The government may be trying to extend its green cover in the city but the existing greens seem to be in trouble. Residents claim that despite the setting up of a tree helpline, no action is generally taken on complaints made. At times, even the complaint number is not given.

Incidentally, the Delhi Tree Protection Act says that no trees can be cut or pruned without permission from the forest department of the Delhi government.

The idea behind tree helpline, which was set up by the Delhi government three years ago, was to involve citizens in protection of trees. However, residents claim that despite repeated complaints to the helpline to report ‘‘merciless’’ pruning of trees in the Rohini area, the forest department has not initiated any action.

Upset by the inaction of the department, Sanjiv Kumar, a resident of sector 9, Rohini, says he’s even shot off a letter to the environment secretary. ‘‘Over the past few weeks, trees in the Rohini area have been pruned and even cut without the requisite permission. Repeated complaints to the tree helpline have not rescued the trees from their fate,’’ says Kumar.

Kumar, in fact, says that ‘‘hacking’’ of trees indiscriminately has been happening for some time now, with no response from the forest department. ‘‘Not only written complaints but even pictures of the felled trees have been provided. But no action taken,’’ adds the resident. Residents in the area allege that the unconcern shown by the local authorities has resulted in several trees falling in the recent storms.

‘‘The roots are left exposed during all the road digging and other civic works that happen here. We’ve called the tree helpline to register complaints but nothing has been done about the trees. As a result, even as small storm makes these trees topple over,’’ added Parul Chhabbra, a resident. Adds Kumar, ‘‘We’ve obviously no complaints about pruning. But this is killing the greens, and the tree helpline should be more accessible to residents.’’

Government authorities claim that the helpline has been registering calls, with no complaints coming in about complaint number not being provided. However, they do admit that lack of adequate manpower means that not all calls are attended immediately.

‘‘Permission for pruning and cutting trees has to be taken from us. But it is not possible for us to attend to every complaint that we receive. We don’t even have the required manpower,’’ said a senior forest department official.
toireporter@timesgroup.com

Silent Samaritans: Delhi:Home Cancer Care unit, RGCI

Amid fading hope, they bring cheer

Team Of 3 Docs Treats Terminally-Ill Cancer Patients, Counsels Their Kin

Shreya Roy Chowdhury | TNN

FIGHT TILL THE END: Home Cancer Care Unit of Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute visits patients every 15 days

New Delhi: Once every fortnight Swarn Kanta Kohli, terminally ill with abdominal cancer, wakes up early with a smile on her lips and cheer in her heart. It’s the day her friends drop by.

These are no ordinary friends but doctors from Home Cancer Care unit of Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute in Rohini. For the past three years, they have treated and counselled her — all for free — just as they have been doing with terminally-ill patients across Delhi.

Rajni Mutneja heads the three-member team, the others a psychologist and a nurse.

They can’t cure but make patients in their care comfortable. They visit the home of each patient at least once in 15 days, bearing nutritional powders, medicines, bandages and words of advice.

‘‘Their support is important. My mother looks to their visits,’’ says Vinod Kohli.

Team-head since 1999, Mutneja says that on an average, there are about 50 patients in their care at a time, two to three of them below the age of 20. Families are counselled against use of futile and frequently harmful alternative therapies; beds and wheelchairs left by deceased patients are circulated among others.

The fortnightly gesture of comfort is even more appreciated by families whose patient is bedridden and unresponsive. Vikrant Pande’s son Rahul was diagnosed with acute leukemia in 2001. He was just 10. In 2003, Rahul slipped into coma. When a 38-day stay at the hospital ended with no improvement, he was discharged. ‘‘It is difficult looking after a patient who can’t express his suffering.

We call the home care group whenever he has a cold or fever or his bedsores need dressing. It really boosts our morale to know someone from the hospital is helping our son,’’ says his father. On visits, lab coats are left behind — many families don’t want neighbours to know. Pande, for instance, is afraid that knowledge of his son’s condition can affect his 21-year-old daughter’s marriage prospects.

They do their best but can’t afford to get too involved. ‘‘Most live for a few weeks to a few months after registering,’’ says Mutneja, who gave up her career as a gynaecologist to tend to the dying. Only about 20% survive beyond two years. ‘‘Sometimes, we call a day before and find upon arriving that the patient passed away in the meantime,’’ she says. But association with the family doesn’t end with the patient’s demise. ‘‘We do at least one condolence visit,’’ says Anita, ‘‘but many of them stay in touch.’’

Much of their work is counselling the families. The team psychologist, Anita Kumari, relates the case of one 52-year-old patient they’re attending to. ‘‘Her husband was stressed and the attendant said he was popping sleeping pills,’’ she says. She got him to speak up while his wife slept, extending support.

The home care programme started a year after the hospital itself, in 1997. ‘‘It is based on the West’s hospice concept,’’ says medical director Dr AK Chaturvedi. Most patients are from RGCI, but about 15% are referred by other hospitals. Since 1997, the team has attended to 2,200 patients. And according to Chaturvedi, there are plans of adding another team.

‘‘We’ve seen so much death,’’ says Anita, who previously worked with an NGO helping school dropouts get back on track. But there’s no sense of despondence.

‘‘You can’t tell what’s in store even for a healthy person,’’ Mutneja reasons. ‘‘We feel satisfied when the patients feel better and their families bless us,’’ they agree.
(Some names have been changed to protect identity)

To curb power theft : Ludhiana / Pune show the way

‘Transmission Losses’ (official  term for pilfering or bijali chori) are as high as 40 % in Delhi.

Politicians and dadas and industries drawing power illegally are against any action to reduce power theft.

Novel way to curb power theft

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Pune: The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (MSEDCL) has adopted a novel plan to curb power thefts and reduce interruptions in supply to city’s major slum pockets and Pimpri-Chinchwad township.

The method was first tried by the Punjab power utility in Ludhiana and is called the ‘Ludhiana Pattern’. The pattern uses aerial bunch conductors and the electricity meters of consumers are installed atop a tall pole to make them inaccessible. Even the MSEDCL staffers have to use a ladder to take the metre readings.

Aerial bunch conductors have a plastic coating which does not allow the current to pass if a hook is attached to the conductor to steal power. To tap electricity from a normal open conductor all one has to do is put a hook attached to a wire on the conductor.

In Pune, the pattern has been replicated in the Annabhau Sathenagar slum in Sangvi, Pimpri division of MSEDCL. R A Mulani, executive engineer of Pimpri division, said that 114 consumers in the Annabhau Sathe slum were given electricity connections and their metres were put atop a seven-metre-high pole.

“The metres have been fixed in a big box to protect them from thieves and elements of nature,” Mulani said, adding that an aerial bunch conductor was fitted at the point of supply instead of the usual conductor.

Mulani said that another 103 slumdwellers from the same locality have applied for power connections and they too will be given connections using the same method. “It cost us Rs 10 lakh for implementing this system,” he said. Besides preventing power thefts the experiment has also reduced instances of power interruption resulting from sudden increase in load when power is tapped illegally.

The Ludhiana Pattern was also replicated at Janatavasahat slum near Parvati, where 120 consumers were given electricity connections. Fifteen metres each were fitted in eight boxes, which in turn were put up on seven-metre-tall poles at a cost of Rs 2.50 lakh. Consumers in Dandekar bridge slum, too, were given electricity connections using the same technique.

“Since the arrangement makes illegal tapping of power impossible, one does not see the usual mesh of cables on the pole which is a common site in a slum,” explained an official of the MSEDCL.

The officials added that the MSEDCL planned to implement the pattern in other slum pockets in Pune zone.
The project was implemented under the supervision of executive director Uttam Zalte, chief engineer S P Nagtilak and superintending engineer D R Padalkar.

Projects in Mumbai: Grand development plans or an exercise in futility?

Grand development plans or an exercise in futility?

In the last 20 yrs, barely 20% of proposals have seen the light of day

Clara Lewis | TNN

Mumbai:

A tottering infrastructure, disappearing open spaces, an unmanageable population. These are just some of the problems that plague the city; proof that the BMC’s current Development Plan (DP), which will expire in 2013, is a failure. It was nearly 20 years in the making, and towards the fag end of its life, only 20 per cent of the proposals have been implemented.

The first DP for Mumbai was prepared by the BMC in 1964, but was sanctioned in parts by the state government between 1965 and ’67. In 1977, the BMC undertook the task of revising the DP. Once again, the revised DP was sanctioned in parts from 1990 to 1994. Now, the civic administration is set to revise the city’s DP for 2014-2034.

ill date, the BMC has succeeded in acquiring barely 12 to 14 per cent of the total land required to implement the existing DP that is valid till 2013. But the question that citizens can’t help but ask is whether these blueprints for Mumbai is yet another exercise in futility.

Municipal commissioner Jairaj Phatak said the problem with the 20-year DP is that often the planning is divorced from finances. “While preparing the plan, we don’t really take into account the ability of the authority to implement the plan,” he said.
According to Phatak, 21 million sq m of land was to be acquired for various public amenities for the current DP. “So far, 18 million sq m remains to be acquired. The two million that has been acquired has been by way of Transfer of Development Rights (TDR). Only 1.21 million sq m has been acquired under the conventional Land Acquisition Act,” he said.

Ashish Shelar, BJP corporator and standing committee member said: “First, the BMC does not have the will to implement it. Second, there has always been interference from the urban development department, and several changes were made to the DP,” he said.

Urban planners and activists say the DP looks good only on paper. According to Neera Punj, convenor Citispace, a citizens group fighting to preserve the city’s open spaces, there is a disconnect between what is written in the DP and the ground reality. “One of the aims of the DP was to protect open spaces, but over the years these have been dwindling,” she said.

Aims Of A DP | Town planning is the main aim of a DP. Other goals include, but are not limited to:
Proposals for allocating the use of land for residential, industrial, commercial, agricultural and recreational purposes Designation of land for public purposes such as educational, medical and public health institutions Transport projects such as roads, highways, airports, etc Preservation and conservation of green and open spaces Proposals for flood control and curtailing river pollution
What Went Wrong With The Existing DP? | Work on the existing plan began in 1977 and was finally sanctioned in 1993. However, only 20% of the proposals were implemented

Of the 21 million sq metres to be acquired only three million has been acquired till date Another glitch in Mumbai’s DP, say urban planners, is that it is largely drafted by the BMC. In 2007, Madhav Chitale, who headed the panel that examined the reasons that led to the 26/7 deluge, told TOI that, “Town-planning as a scientific discipline is absent in the BMC.’’ He added that civic body needs to have an in-house set of trained town-planners who do not treat land as a commodity and whose plans for the city are not driven by property interests

Response To The DP For 2014-2034
The Expression of Interest is silent on the issue of local participation. Industrialist and civic activist Cyrus Guzder said the plan should be prepared at two levels. “At the official level, you have the strategists who set the vision for the city. At the polling booth level, local residents should plan how their area should be developed. The two should be integrated.’’ The idea of inviting Expression of Interest seeking conversion of salt plan lands into residential and commercial zones has been criticised by urban planners

Raj Thackeray: Ration Cards should not be proof for ID

‘Ration cards can’t be used as ID proof’

Somit Sen & Sanjeev Shivadekar | TNN

Mumbai: MNS chief Raj Thackeray has demanded that ration cards should not be allowed as an identity proof for assembly elections. He has decided to take up the issue with the chief election commissioner (CEC) in Delhi.

Thackeray submitted a memorandum in this connection to Maharashtra’s chief electoral officer Debashish Chakrabarty on Wednesday. He said the party will bring to the notice of the EC practice of using of bogus ration cards on voting day. He added that ration cards in Maharashtra did not have photographs of family members.

“In other states, the cards bear photographs. In our state, they do not have photographs and should not be allowed as proof of identity.”

He asked the EC to allow politicians to use government guest houses/bungalows during campaigns in villages and demanded a single window clearance for permissions to hold rallies, meetings and campaign trails.

KOSI:‘ KOSI’S CURSE WILL VISIT US AGAIN’

‘ KOSI’S CURSE WILL VISIT US AGAIN’

I T WAS in August last year that Bihar witnessed unprecedented floods when a breach occurred upstream of the Kosi barrage and the river suddenly changed its course — converting vast tracts of habitat into a 15 to 20 km wide sheet of water — flowing into some of its ancient channels.

The river was diverted back to the old course through the barrage on January 26, 2009 after restoring an about 2000 m long embankment which had breached.

Rajiv Sinha — a professor of geosciences at IIT Kanpur who has been studying the river for many years — now says that it is only a question of time before there is another breach and flooding from Kosi because the underlying conditions that led to the disaster remain the same.

Sinha says avulsion or sudden change in a river’s course happens when a threshold is crossed — when the cross valley slope is close to or more than the down valley slope.

The Kosi crossed this threshold last year primarily due to excessive deposition of sediment within the channel bed.

The river was literally flowing in a ‘ super- elevated’ position.

It changed its course because it found a new equilibrium.

“ By putting the river back, we have re- created the same ‘ unstable’ condition for the river and it is only a matter of time before the river crosses the threshold!

To the best of my knowledge, no major river training work has been carried out so far to create a more ‘ stable’ and ‘ favourable’ condition for the river to flow along the ‘ forced’ course”, Sinha has opined.

Andher Nagari: MCD Pit becomes a death trap

He survived an aircrash but not an MCD pit

The uncovered pit in Malviya Nagar that

77-year-old Trilok Makan (inset) fell into

LURKING DANGER: Several such pits have been dug up on this road

New Delhi: Seventy-seven-year-old Trilok Nath Makan survived a plane crash in the ‘90s, only to die after falling into an eight-feet deep pit left uncovered by a callous MCD contractor right outside his south Delhi home.

Makan, who retired as additional private secretary to former Prime Minster Atal Behari Vajpayee, lived in B block of Shivalik road in Malviya Nagar.

He had stepped out to buy groceries from shops near his house at 8.15 pm on Friday. The pit on the divider, where work was underway to install new streetlights, was a deathtrap sans warning signs or barricade. To make matters worse, the area was dark because the power had been turned off while the streetlights were being installed.

Makan didn’t survive the fall, probably lapsing into unconscious right away and therefore unable to use his cellphone to seek help.

He suffered from a chronic cervical problem. The preliminary autopsy report suggests he died ‘due to the fall’. His body bore bruises on the head, neck and left temple.

But till late on Saturday night, a case had not been registered. A senior police officer said, “prima facie it looks like a case of negligence but there are chances that he might have suffered cardiac arrest and fallen into the pit.’’ Police are waiting for the postmortem report.

Reconstructing events, the police said Makan might have blinded by headlights as he emerged from the colony’s gate.

Divider was deathtrap with no streetlights MCD Orders Probe, Says Guilty Will Be Punished; Evidence Of Negligence Not Far To Seek

New Delhi: There was heavy traffic on Shivalik Road in Malviya Nagar where seventy-seven-year-old Trilok Nath Makan fell into a pit right outside his house. ‘‘There were no streetlights working on the road as power had been disconnected.

There is a possibility that he was blinded by the headlights of a vehicle and could not see the pit,’’ said a senior police officer.

Police said they were investigating the matter. Makan’s family had spent a sleepless night. When he did not return after half an hour, his wife, Jai, called up a family friend. ‘‘We started looking for him in the nearby areas and enquired from the shops outside the colony but failed to trace him. We then informed the police and several search parties were sent out,’’ said joint secretary of RWA Rajan Grover.

About 10 hours later, Makan’s body was spotted by the cashier of a grocery store, Abhishek Kumar, who informed the police at 6 am on Saturday. The body was taken to All India Institute of Medical Sciences where doctors declared him brought dead. Makan was the vice-president of the local RWA of B Block.

‘‘New streetlights are being installed on the stretch between Aurobindo College and Malviya Nagar. There are 22 such pits which have been dug and left like this for the past two weeks,’’ said a resident Jayant Choudhary.

MCD’s director (press and information) Deep Mathur told TOI that ‘‘public safety is of prime concern whenever digging or construction is carried out. The work at Shivalik is being carried out for Commonwealth Games. The contract for this work had been given to Sawaka Powertech Engineering Private Limited. We have directed the officials concerned to submit a written report within three days.’’

‘‘Our officials have examined the spot. If any lapse is found on the part of the contractor, he will be prosecuted as per the contract, and if it is a lapse on part of our officials, action will be initiated against them accordingly,’’ he said.

Makan is survived by his ailing wife. His two sons died in their teens due to illness, claimed Makan’s relatives. ‘‘His wife, Jai, cannot move and we are worried who will take care of her now,’ said Makan’s nephew, Sudhir Kalra.
rahul.tripathi@timesgroup.com