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| nation | 11H I N D U STA N T I M E S , N E W D E L H IT H U RS DAY, M AY 1 0 , 2 0 1 2
Saving lives round theclock, a step at a time
Nivedita Khandekar■ [email protected]
WALONG/WAKRO (DIST ANJAW/LOHIT): At9.45 pm, a young woman walks intothe Kibithoo health sub-centre, blooddripping from her face. Yet anothervictim of a domestic squabble.
Oni Ering and Pura Menu, auxil-iary nurse midwives (ANMs) at thesub-centre, clean the wound, stitch it,and send her back with tablets and aneat bandage. Ering and Menu's workisn't done, though. It's never exactlydone when you have set up camp at aplace as non-descript as Kibithoo, nearthe China border, offering 24x7 serv-ices to the people.
Run by the Karuna Trust, theWalong Primary Health Centre (PHC)is one of 11 such establishments beingrun by NGOs on a non-profit basis inArunachal Pradesh under the PublicPrivate Partnership (PPP) model ofthe National Rural Health Mission(NRHM) since 2006.
The sub-centre caters to 10 villagessprinkled over the mountains, wherelandslides and road blocks are com-mon occurrences and walking longdistances routine. "At times, we walkabout 10-km stretches to reach ourdestination," says Milo Yanga atWalong PHC.
Equipped with a modern deliveryroom, the
centre alsoc o n d u c t sblood tests."Earlier, wehad to go toTezu, about
200 km away, for a blood test," saysBillangli Tamai, who runs a PCO atWalong.
In neighbouring Lohit district, some250 km away, patients can get to theTillai sub-health centre under WakroPHC by crossing several streams,including the Kamphai Nala, througha steel wire hanging bridge. It catersto eight villages.
In the absence of electricity, the clin-ics have to rely on solar cells. "If ourmobiles are not charged, it becomesdifficult to even call an ambulance toferry a pregnant woman to Wakro, 22km away," said Jasoilu Singhpho,another ANM. Though they mostlytreat fever and injuries, it is betterthan nothing for the villagers.
However, even as facilities at thePHCs continue to improve with anincrease in testing equipment (anultra-sound machine, for instance) andbed strength (from six to 12), prob-lems continue to plague them. For awhile now, both the PHCs have beensurviving on non-MBBS doctors, andgrappling with high attrition levels.“Not many MBBS doctors are willingto work for this kind of a salary. I havebeen talking with the Arunachal gov-ernment about this,” says Amod Kanthof Prayas.
Speaking on attrition, AnjawDRCHO Sajinglu Chai-Pul says, "Weconduct training programmes. If thedoctor goes away, it goes waste."
"Doctors and other staffers areunwilling to move to remote areas.Those who do, ditch us for permanentgovernment jobs," says MousumiGogoi, coordinator for the north-east,Karuna Trust.
Making things worse, the funds gen-erally arrive two-three months late.Dr Dimong Padung, nodal officer forNRHM, Arunachal Pradesh, agrees,but says, "The money comes from theCentre. The delay is on their part."
After two terms till March 2012, themodel has received an extension onlytill May 2012. There is a threat ofuncertainty looming large as 90%funds come from Centre. "We havestrongly taken up the case with theCentre for continuation," Padung adds.
■ Locals children get a check-up at a primary health centre run by Prayas duringa Measles Catch-Up Camp in Pukhuri village near Wakro in Lohit district ofArunachal Pradesh. NIVEDITA KHANDEKAR/ HT PHOTO
ON THEIR OWN Tucked away in the mountains of Arunachal,two primary health centres offering 24x7 services to peopleweave a success story with the scarce resources at their disposal
focusnortheast
CABINET MAYCLEAR CHANGESIN ANTI-TERRORACT TODAYShishir Gupta■ [email protected]
NEW DELHI: The Cabinet on Thur-sday is expected to clear theUnlawful Activities (Prevention)Amendment Bill, 2011, whichdeclares dealing with “highquality” counterfeit currencyas a terrorist act, and increas-es the period for which an orga-nisation could be banned ordeclared unlawful from two tofive years.
As of now, 35 terrorist organ-isations, including the CPI(Maoist), Indian Mujahideenand Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, are banned under theUAP Act.
Government sources said thebill was referred to the stand-ing committee on home affairsafter its introduction in Parlia-ment by home minister P Chid-ambaram in December 2011.The stringent legislation againstterrorism was whetted by thecommittee, under BJP leaderVenkaiah Naidu, and the reportwith recommendations wassubmitted on March 26, 2012.
The bill seeks to extend theban on unlawful organisationsfrom two to five years, specif-ically to cut the cost of admin-istering the ban as well as getmore time for making arrange-ments with regard to data, evi-dence, court cases and policesanctions against them.
“The home ministry hasbeen spending more than R50lakh in legal costs each year toenforce the ban on organisa-tions such as the SIMI,” said asenior official.
Dealings with counterfeitIndian currency, detentions,abductions, and threats of injuryor death in order to pressuriseinter-governmental organisa-tions have been defined as ter-rorist acts under the proposedbill. It increases the punishmentfor raising terror-related fundsto seven years, additionallyempowering courts to attach orforfeit property equivalent tothe value of proceeds of ter-rorism involved in the offence.
The bill inserts new sectionsto include offences by compa-nies, societies or trusts.
F I G H T I N G R E D M E N A C E
HT Correspondent■ [email protected]
GUWAHATI: Four Maoist guerril-las were killed in a shootout withsecurity forces in UpperAssam’s Tinsukia district onWednesday. A police constablewas injured in the incident,while three rebels managed toescape, the police said.
The operation — the firstmajor encounter between therebels and security forces in thestate — took place at DeopaniBorgora village, around 600 kmfrom here, following informa-tion that some Maoists hadtaken shelter in the village.
“When our men headed tow-ards a house where they werehiding, the Maoists opened fire.
In the retaliatory firing, fourultras were killed,” said PPSingh, district SP.
According to intelligencesources, the rebels had recent-ly formed their armed wing atSadiya region in Upper Assam,considered the Maoists’ hub.Besides Tinsukia, they haveexpanded their activities toDibrugarh, Laximpur, Dhemaji,Sivasagar, Golaghat and Karbi
Anglong districts, sources said.They are now working along
the Assam-Arunachal borderto form an armed wing in LowerAssam too, the police said.
“One of the slain Maoists,Sidhartha Buragohain, was theregional commander,” Singhsaid.
Three AK-47 rifles, threeChinese hand grenades, threemagazines and 250 rounds oflive ammunitions were recov-ered from the slain Maoists. Thepolice also recovered five mobilesets and vital documents.
CM Tarun Gogoi had recent-ly announced several develop-mental schemes in border areasto stop the Maoists from mak-ing inroads in backward areas.
(With agency inputs)
Govt mulls centralhostage policyIn the wake of the recentabduction of a collectorby naxals in Chhattis-garh, home minister PChidambaram has saidthe UPA will considerevolving a central hostagepolicy for the country.Replying to a short noticequestion in Rajya Sabha,Chidambaram said hehas asked officials in theministry to raise the issuewith states to find out ifthere was a need for sucha policy. He, however, saidthat calls for not involv-ing mediators areimpractical. “Even in Chhattisgarh,mediators were involved.Mediation and negotia-tion are a part of everycountry’s hostage policy.”he cited the example ofIsrael releasing 1,000 sol-diers for one prisoner inOctober 2011 to drivehome his point. Chidamb-aram said dealing withissues of terrorism andinsurgency was the jointresponsibility of the stateand Centre. HTC, DELHI
4 Maoists gunned down inencounter with Assam cops
THIS OPERATION IS THEFIRST MAJOR ONE WITHNAXALS IN THE STATE.POLICE SAY THE REBELSHAVE SPREAD ACTIVITIESTO MANY DISTRICTS
HT Correspondent■ [email protected]
BHUBANESWAR: A pall of gloomdescended on Beltukuri villagein Nuapada, Odisha, where thebody of assistant sub-inspectorKruparam Majhi was cremat-ed with full state honours onWednesday.
Majhi, the in-charge ofDharambandha police station,was killed by Maoists onTuesday.
He was ambushed by a groupof 25 while escorting a watertanker to the CRPF camp atLodra village inside theSunabeda wildlife sanctuary.His bullet-ridden body wasfound near the camp after athree-hour search.
Over 2,000 people attendedthe funeral, including Odisha’ssenior police officers — inspec-tor general (operations) ArunSarangi and deputy inspectorgeneral (southwest range)Soumendra Priyadarshi. “Thiswas the first time the Maoistskilled a policeman in cold blood.We’ll try to give a fitting reply,”said Priyadarshi.
A tribal from Beltukuri village,
Majhi had joined the police forceat the age of 27 as a constable.His father was a farmer. “Majhiwas a good man who was alwaysready to help people. He is a herofor all of us,” said a villager.
Majhi is survived by his moth-er, wife and four daughters, agedbetween 14 and 4. His threeelder daughters study in thelocal school. The villagers havedemanded that the governmentshould also take care of theireducation.
The police officers handed acheque of R8 lakh — the ex-gra-tia announced by the state gov-ernment — to Majhi’s wifeJogeswari. The government has also announced that a mem-ber of the family would be given a job.
2,000 turn up forOdisha cop’s funeral
( )This was the first time the Maoists
killed a policeman in cold blood. We’ll try
to give a fitting reply.S O U M E N D R A P R I YA D A R S H I
deputy inspector general (southwest range)
