NABH accreditation to Women and Children Hospital at stake

The accreditation of the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals (NABH) accorded to the Women and Children Hospital at Thycaud is at stake with the hospital not adhering to many of the NABH standards and guidelines.

When NABH accredited hospitals are to provide all facilities to the patients within the hospital, the patients at the Women and Children Hospital are forced to walk out for scan, lab tests and even for buying medicines that are not available.

The construction of the centralised operation theatre, which was one of the facilities that was envisaged as part of getting the NABH accreditation, is yet to start. The theatre that is now functioning is a smaller one with only split AC whereas NABH calls for centralised AC system.

The doctors prescribe scan outside the hospital as there is no proper facility at the hospital, sources said. As per the NABH norms, it is mandatory that the patients should be provided such facility within the hospital. They also said that there was a shortage of medicines and even certain base drugs such as ampicillin was not available at the drug store. With no stock of the base and cheap medicines, the doctors are forced to prescribe high priced drugs, the sources said. The doctors at the hospital have raised complaints on drug procurement.

Source : The New Indian Express

http://epaper.newindianexpress.com/347545/The-New-Indian-Express-Thiruvananthapuram/30-09-2014#page/17/1

Service Extension to Docs a financial strain

At a time the Oommen Chandy government has come out with various measures to tide over the present financial crisis,  the extension of service of as many as 50 doctors in the Health Service by six months is alleged to be draining the state exchequer. 

The government is paying out a crore per month for the doctors who are at the verge of retirement and who are on extended service when hundreds of doctors are in waiting in the PSC list, which has been pending for a long time.

Those who are at the verge of retirement and the others whose extension period is almost over draws a salary of about Rs 1.50 to Rs 1.75 lakh per month, which means that the state pays out about Rs 75 lakh to Rs 80 lakh. When these doctors are paid such a huge amount, the entry level salary is Rs 40,000.

Officials point out that it is a paradox that the service of the doctors, who are paid highly, are being extended even when the government is talking of bold steps to tide over the financial crisis.  The government had even hiked water charges and removed the existing caps on stamp duty and registration fee, thereby projecting an additional revenue of more than Rs 2,000 crore. Though the salary that is given to the doctors when their service is extended is minimal, it can also add to the revenue of the state, they added.

They also noted that there was no justification in extending the service of the doctors at a time when the government is for stringent measures to tide over the crisis. Even it was decided that the ministers would not take 20 per cent of  their salary until the end of this fiscal. Restrictions have also been imposed on foreign trips of ministers. 

Source: the New Indian Express

http://epaper.newindianexpress.com/341586/The-New-Indian-Express-Thiruvananthapuram/20-09-2014#page/4/1

Kerala Resumes Excess Estate Land for medical campus

Despite all pressures from various quarters for giving compensation to the land acquired for setting up the Sree Chitra Thirunal Institute of Medical Sciences (SCTIMST ) at Wayanad, the government has ordered to resume 75 acres of land in Mananthwadi without shelling out a single paise. Earlier there was a move to pay compensation of about 20 to 25 crores for the land that was to be acquired, which the Express had exposed a few months back.

In the order, which is in possession of Express, it says that the lessee M/s Glen Leven Estate in Mananthwadi is not entitled for the value of the land as the jenmom right is vested with the government. However, it says that the lessee is entitled only for the value of improvements/structures it had done in the said land.

''The Wayanad district collector is accordingly directed to acquire 75 acres of land from M/s Glen leven estate for the establishment of the campus of Sree Chitra Thirunal Institute of Medical Sciences in Wayanad,'' the order dated August 19 said.

There was much pressure on the government to giving compensation for the land. Even the Advocate General had in his legal opinion favoured compensation to the estate owners. The Express had exposed the move with the Opposition Leader V S Achuthanandan taking up the issue.

The property that has to be resumed was originally leased out for 99 years in 1941 to V V Joseph and others. After that the dependents of Joseph sold the lease hold right to M/s Glen leven estate.

The decision is said to be a revolutionary one, making it clear that all lease lands are vested with the government. Moreover, the government can now resume all excess land that is now in the illegal possession. 

Source:  The Newindian Express 

http://epaper.newindianexpress.com/330249/The-New-Indian-Express-Thiruvananthapuram/01-09-2014#page/4/1

 

Govt Mega show for buying land from private holders when enough land in stock

Conveniently ignoring the thousands of acres of government land illegally held by private individuals and institutions, the Revenue Department is gearing up for a mega bash, Bhoomigeetham, in Kochi to raise money for buying private land for its ambitious 'Zero Landless' project.

Despite retrieving government land, which may come to 5000 to 10,000 acres of land in each district as per revenue sources, the government has become a laughing stock with the mega show titled ‘Bhoomigeetham’ to be held first at Ernakulam on August 31 and later at every district headquarters. According to revenue sources, about 2,500 acres of public land that could be taken back are spread over Nedumangad, Palode and Ponmudi regions in Thiruvananthapuram district, about 4,000 acres in  Nelliyampathy and Chittor areas in Palakkad. In Munnar and Devikulam areas in Idukki, more than 5,000 acres are in the illegal possession of many. The same is with Wayanad, which according to unofficial records  stands at about 4,000 acres of illegal possessions.  

Lands that have completed lease period and those that violated lease agreement, encroached lands, surplus lands that are not entangled in legal or other issues, Escheat lands (land which has no inheritors) and Bought-in-Land (authority of land that lies with the various departments) could have been earmarked for providing titles deeds to the landless. The government is conducting a Mega Show at a time when even surplus lands are being allotted in the name of private institutions. The officials maintain that the government does not have the courage to take back the land from major encroachers.  

The officials also alleged that the government by not retrieving land in the illegal possessions for such an ambitious project was only helping land grabbers. Instead of buying land from private holders, the money collected from the mega shows could have been used for building houses for the landless, the said and added it could have saved the face of the government.   

However, Revenue Minister Adoor Prakash said that the Mega show was conceived, aimed at the participation of the entire society in the zero land less project. ''There can be many criticisms about conducting such a show. The money that is collected  through the mega shows will be used for the Zero Landless project,'' he said. 

Noting that identifying land was the first priority of the government, Prakash said that only 10,000 acres of land was now needed as per the records for providing land to the applications received.  And here the officials note that if the government was stern, 10,000 acres was not that difficult. 

source: The New Indian express

http://epaper.newindianexpress.com/327941/The-New-Indian-Express-Thiruvananthapuram/28-08-2014#page/5/1

laproscopic Sterlisation: Docs denied medico-legal support

Doctors in the government sector performing laproscopic sterilisation are a worried lot with the government not providing medico-legal support if and when the persons subject to such surgery approach the court. Once the doctors face court cases, they only get support from the Professional Protection Scheme of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) and that too only provided to life term members.

Noting that failures can happen in some persons who undergo laproscopic sterlisation, the doctors said that they were not getting the due support in most of the cases. IMA state secretary Dr A V Jayakrishnan said ''The doctors now perform laproscopic sterlisation at their own risk. They face mental trauma and physical strain when fighting the case individually at a time the sterilisation is being done as part of a national programme,'' he said.

Moreover, people file cases even after signing the approval letter that clearly states that they would avail the insurance amount as part of the national programme if there is a failure. Most of the people are said to file cases if they get a girl child after the sterlisation failure. If its a boy child, no cases are generally filed, the doctors said. Another thing pointed out is that the people who undergo sterilisation are asked to approach the doctor in case of any failure. But in most cases, they do not turn up but only approach the court.

Stating that fighting cases without any support was difficult most of the time, Dr Maya of the Women and Child Hospital, Thycaud, said '' it is really hard for fighting the case all alone. The only support that we get is from the IMA and that too only if a doctor is a life term member.''

source: The New Indian express

http://epaper.newindianexpress.com/326824/The-New-Indian-Express-Thiruvananthapuram/26-08-2014#page/6/1

Digitalisation of Land: A long road ahead for State

Thiruvananthapuram: Even as the Government is preparing for online mutation (pokkuvaravu) across the state, the officials in the village, taluk and other revenue offices are quite apprehensive about its implementation as there is a dearth of qualified staff who can handle the documents online. Moreover, doubts have also been raised if online mutation would be fool proof.

Now being implemented in Palakkad district, the government says that it is being smoothly implemented in the district and no complaints have been raised till now. However, those who are apprehensive said that though Palakkad is claimed to be a success, the government was yet to prove it. They also pointed out the possibility of technical error when registration of documents are made online.

Stating that there was nothing to worry when online mutation was introduced, Revenue Minister Adoor Prakash said that the online facility that was introduced in Palakkad district was functioning in a smooth manner. However, he pointed out that once the resurvey was completed, everything would be streamlined. ''Once the online mutation comes into force, there will not be any complaints with regard to land transactions,'' he said.

Once online mutation is completely introduced across the state, the government thinks of monitoring all land transactions and hopes that all suspicious land transactions in sensitive areas could be curbed. A document registered in one place can be checked at any place, which helps in checking bogus transactions.

However, the employees in the revenue department and the document writers forum have raised concern with regard to online mutation. Kerala Document Writers, Scribes and Stamp vendors Welfare Board member Mannoorkonam Sathyan said that there was not enough qualified staff in the revenue offices who can handle the documents online. Once the online mutation comes into effect, there are chances of more delay and extra financial burden on the part of the people, he said. Pointing out that around 50,000 document and scribe writers were in the state, he expressed his fear that the proposed reforms in the registration department will render them jobless and adversely affect their livelihood. However, he said that once all the offices are brought under the system, there would be more transparency.

Medical students allege anomalies in KUHS exam

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala University of Health Sciences (KUHS), which is imposing exam fee that is said to be the highest among the other universities in the country for PG Exams, is alleged to be taking the students for a ride with the University not providing the basic services.

The PG Students allege that the University, which was charging a fee of about Rs 10,000 for the exam, was not having a centralised evaluation system and a unified scoring system. However, the University claims that the fees was not higher and the students were provided the best service. The students are also gearing up for an agitation, demanding transparency in the exam process.

Stating that no proper evaluation was taking place, Kerala Medical Postgraduates Association state president Dr M Anas said ''even though the University says that the valuation is foolproof because of triple evaluation, the marks that has been provided by the first evaluator will be mostly followed by the others. '' He said that the Association demanded a centralised valuation system, where there will be no victimisation.

Pointing out that they were denied revaluation, he said ''the PG exam conducted by KUHS is not different from the exams of other universities. When there is revaluation for all exams conducted by the different universities, why there is no revaluation for the PG course conducted by KUHS,'' he said.

''When the colleges were under the Kerala University, the fees was just Rs 2,000. But now the charges have reached about Rs 10,000 and the university has said that there will be a ten per cent yearly increase,'' Anas said.

Source: The new Indian Express

http://epaper.newindianexpress.com/325218/The-New-Indian-Express-Thiruvananthapuram/23-08-2014#page/6/1