June 18, 2019 - meraapnabihar

I saw my colleagues being stabbed… all over in 5 min: Jharkhand Maoist attack survivor

Source: indianexpress.com

Constable-driver Sukhlal Kudada, the sole survivor in the attack on Friday in which five policemen were killed by suspected Maoists in Jharkhand, believes he survived only because he was not in uniform. Advertising

“I was in civil dress and sitting inside the vehicle and I think that is why I survived. I saw my colleagues being stabbed and their throats slit, one by one. In less than five minutes, the ambush was over,” says Kudada.

Five policemen of the Tiruldih police station — two Assistant Sub-Inspectors and three constables — were killed in the ambush at 4.45 pm on Friday at Kurku market in Saraikela district.

Chaibasa DIG Kuldeep Dwivedi said police have launched a “sustained operation” to arrest the Maoists involved in the attack.

Kudada, who has been posted as driver at the Tiruldih police station for the last nine months, says that an hour before the incident, he had driven the team of policemen to Ichakdih village to attend to a call regarding a dispute. While returning, he says, they stopped at the Kurku market and all the five policemen stepped into different shops to buy water, cold drinks.

Kudada, who claims he was seated in the car when the ambush began, says, “Suddenly, some people emerged from the crowd and started stabbing (the policemen). They all had bhujali (daggers). I rushed out and tried to save one of them, but one of the attackers swung his bhujali at me and I ran.” He says there were at least four attackers for every policeman who was targetted.

While Kudada says the attackers were armed with bhujaali, Saraikela SP Chandan Kumar Sinha said the policemen had sustained both bullet and stab injuries, and that the Maoists fled with the weapons of the dead policemen. Asked if the Maoists had come without any firearms, he said, “We cannot say so for sure as cartridges, apart from those from police guns, were recovered from the spot.”

It was outside a utensils shop in Kurku market that one of the policemen was killed. Bhagwat Mahto, whose relative owns the shop, says he had come to the market on Friday to buy a goat when the attack happened. On Saturday morning, he has returned to take home the goat which he kept locked in the shop all night. “I first saw blood… people were screaming. I could not understand anything and I ran for my life. Soon, the attackers were screaming ‘Maowadi Zindabad’ and waving guns. A few had towels wrapped around their faces.”

Kudada, however, says he never heard any slogans. He claims that minutes after the attack, he heard gunshots. “The Maoists took three INSAS rifles and two pistols from the policemen and they appeared to be firing from it. They also seemed to video record the incident. This time, I ran for my life,” he says.

Kudada claims that he ran for 10 km, called Bobby Jha, munshi at the Tiruldih police station, and informed him about the attack, after which he took a lift and reached the police station in Tiruldih.

At the station, the munshi, who received a call from Kudada at 5.49 pm, informed his superior, Sub Inspector Dayanand Ram. “I called up senior police officers and a team was sent to the spot. When we reached there, there was complete silence and blood everywhere,” says Ram.

The police station runs with 40 per cent of its sanctioned strength. “Of the sanctioned police strength of 35, we had 15. Now, we have lost five of our colleagues. Our station house in-charge is under suspension and a few others are on leave,” says Ram, now the most senior officer at the police station.

“It could have been any of us… Our jurisdiction was never thought to be unsafe,” he says, worrying that since driver Kudada was the lone survivor, he will now face a lot of scrutiny. “Who knows if he ends up as the suspect…”

DIG Dwivedi, however, said, “The driver is not a suspect as of now. But as I said, we are investigating all possible angles.”

Patna’s Over Century-Old Heritage Market Demolished In Smart City Project

Source: ndtv.com

Patna:  The over 100-year-old Gole Market in Patna, a unique heritage building constructed as the Bihar capital’s first planned municipal market, has been demolished by local authorities as part of a Smart City project.

The demolition work began on Friday and by Sunday the historic landmark, located in the heart of Patna and endowed with beautiful red-tiled roof, was reduced to a skeletal shell.

“The Gole Market was demolished as part of a major redevelopment project of the railway station area under the Smart City initiative. Other markets lining the streets are also being knocked down as part of the mega project,” Patna Municipal Commissioner Anupam Kumar Suman told news agency Press Trust of India.

As part of this Smart City project, the now-dismantled Gole Market, located near Patna Junction, will make way for a seven-storeyed commercial complex and a modern municipal market along with a vending zone will come up in the area adjoining the Station Road, he said.

Popularly known as Gole Market, among the local people, it was Patna’s first planned municipal market designed by architect Joseph Fearis Munnings while he was planning the layout of the “New Capital” city of colonial Patna after the creation of the new province of Bihar and Orissa in 1912.

Despite the historical value of the building, the demolition has drawn feeble protest from citizens of the city, but many people in Patna are angered by this “shocking move” of the Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC).

“This is just madness. It was a historical building and should have been preserved. But, instead of restoring and reusing it as a cafe or something, the corporation razed it,” said city-based researcher and author Arun Singh.

“One by one the local government is knocking down heritage buildings in the city. This is an attempt to erase the colonial history of Patna in the name of development,” he alleged.

In December last year, the 133-year-old Anjuman Islamia Hall, perhaps the first public hall of Patna, was demolished to make way for a modern complex.

The heritage market had faced decades of neglect and its occupant shopkeepers had been feeling the shadow of the wrecking ball for years as local authorities had planned a redevelopment project much earlier too, which kept on getting stalled, a local shopkeeper, who did not wish to be named, said.

“My grandfather had a meat shop in it during the British time, and elite of the city would come in their cars to buy meat, fish, chicken, eggs, grocery and milk. It should have been preserved,” he said.

City-based 84-year-old architect and INTACH Patna Chapter Convener J K Lall also expressed shock and anger over the demolition of Gole Market.

“It was a unique single-storeyed building with a raised central hexagonal core topped with elegant red-tiled roof and two flanks came out of it and again it was topped with red tiles of the colonial-era Burn & Co. It was a perfect building and a perfect setting for a heritage cafe,” he told PTI.

“Smart City also means preserving our architectural legacy and not just building new ones,” he said.

PMC Commissioner Suman, when asked why the building was demolished, said, the Gole Market was “coming in the middle” of the layout of the Smart City project plan.

“There were suggestions made to us by a few heritage lovers to preserve the building and reuse it as a cafe. We tried but the market structure was coming in the way of the plan. So, we had no option left but to knock it down,” he said.

“Also, besides the fact that it was designed 100 years ago by Munnings as the first municipal market, there was not much heritage value of it. And, sometimes we have to lose something old to build a new, better future,” the municipal commissioner said.

However, the iron shell of the building and whatever can be salvaged will be stored and later reused in a new gazebo at the site, Mr Suman said.

“That gazebo will be built with new material and old material from the dismantled Gole Market. We are trying to look into our archives to know about the history of the building, which along with old pictures would be displayed there, so that people will know there was a Gole Market here,” he said.

Retired bureaucrat R N Dash, who served as the district magistrate of Patna from 1972-74 and Divisional Commissioner from 1983-85, also said that demolition was a “wrong move” and that restoration and proper rehabilitation of local shopkeepers should have been planned instead.

“The overall master plan should have ensured the preservation of the market and other heritage buildings, and Smart City project should have factored that in. Converting it into a cafe was a good idea and people coming to these complexes would have visited too, so it was a win-win situation,” he said.

Ironically, Gole Market was also listed as a heritage building in a 2008 Bihar goverment publication — Patna: A Monumental History.

Mr Singh, whose book “Patna – Khoya Hua Shahar” came out early this year, talks about the history and glory days of this market, located in what is termed officially as the New Market area, falling between the railway station rotary and the Patna GPO roundabout.

“In its heydays, it had a rose garden around it and six routes leading to it from the streets around it.

“British people including European women would visit there as would the Indians in their cars. Instead of restoring old charm, as done world over, Patna is wilfully destroying its own heritage,” he rued.

Weather across India: Bihar heatwave claims 61 lives, rain brings respite for Northern states | 12 points

Source: indiatoday.in

The weather in India has been difficult for the population of the country with the heatwaves dominating the weather for the past few weeks. According to reports, there have been 32 heatwaves this year in India, the second-longest spell of high temperatures in the country’s recorded history. The heatwave conditions prevailing in most parts of the country has claimed at least 44 lives in Bihar in a day, even as rain brought down the mercury in some western and northern states on Sunday.

Here are the weather conditions in various states

1. Rain and thunderstorm has been predicted on Monday in Uttar Pradesh, where sweltering heat continued unabated with Allahabad in the eastern part being the hottest at 45.3 degree Celsius, six notches above the normal. Sultanpur, Varanasi and Basti in the state recorded 45 degrees Celsius, 44.2 degrees Celsius and 44 degrees Celsius respectively.

2. Blistering heatwave condition continued unabated in Bihar, where at least 61 people died on Saturday. The state government has ordered closure of schools till June 19. According to officials, 22 people died in Aurangabad, 20 in Gaya and two in Nawada districts due to the heatwave. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has expressed grief over the deaths and announced an ex gratia of Rs four lakh for the next of kin of the victims.

3. In Delhi, traces of rain and strong wind reduced the daytime temperature which settled at 36.3 degrees Celsius, three notches below the normal. The weatherman has predicted overcast conditions and thunderstorm accompanied with light rains on Monday.

4. Parts of Rajasthan witnessed rain since Saturday, bringing respite from the sweltering conditions. The state capital recorded 9.2 mm of rains on Sunday, the meteorological department said. Bhim in Rajsamand gauged 7 cm of rains followed by 4 cm in Tibi of Hanumangarh and 3 cm each in Chirawa, Sri Ganganagar, Hanumangarh and Sangaria since Saturday.

5. Similarly, rainfall in Ahmedabad and rest of Gujarat brought respite from the scorching heat. The maximum temperature in Ahmedabad hovered around 37 degree Celsius, the IMD said. North Gujarat and Saurashtra-Kutch regions are likely to receive heavy rain on Monday under the influence of Cyclone Vayu, the MeT department said. On Sunday morning, the cyclone remained centred about 470 km west-southwest of Porbandar, 440 km southwest of Dwarka and 545 km southwest of Bhuj, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said in a bulletin.

Monsoon is expected to advance further up north as Cyclone Vayu loses intensity paving the way for the wind system to move towards the Arabian Sea, the weatherman said Sunday.

6. By now, monsoon should have reached the central India, including parts of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, eastern Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, but it is yet to reach Maharashtra. It still remains over Mangalore, Mysore, Cuddalore over the southern peninsula and Passighat, Agartala in the northeast, according to the India Meteorological Department.

7. The western coast – from Maharashtra to Gujarat – has been receiving rainfall due to the cyclone. Only coastal Karnataka and Kerala have received rains due to monsoon.

8. Monsoon is likely to set in in Telangana around June 20 and in Andhra Pradesh by June 18, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

9. The public in Tamil Nadu has been advised not to expose themselves to direct sunlight between 11.00 am and 4.00 pm to avoid sunstroke, a Regional Meteorological Centre has said. Chennai and its neighbouring areas and several other northern districts in Tamil Nadu have been reeling under heatwave-like conditions for the past several days with the mercury hovering over 41 degree Celsius.

10. This year’s heatwave has not even spared the Himalayan state of Jammu and Kashmir. Jammu recorded a maximum temperature of 39.6 degrees Celsius on Sunday, the weatherman said.

11. The weather remained mainly dry in Himachal Pradesh on Sunday even as the maximum temperature fell by 3 to 4 degrees from normal, Shimla MeT Centre director Manmohan Singh said.

12. Some states experienced pleasant conditions with little to moderate rain. Sirsa, Fatehabad, Mahendergarh in Haryana and Amritsar, Gurdaspur and a few other areas in Punjab received welcome showers.

According to meteorological department forecast, light to moderate rain is likely at a few places on June 16, 17 and 18 in Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh. Meanwhile, four people, including two brothers, were killed in separate incidents of lightning strike during rain and thunderstorm in northern part of Chhattisgarh on Saturday, police said.

Act Of Touching A Colleague’s Hand Does Not Constitute The Offence Of Outraging Modesty Of A Woman: Bombay HC [Read Judgment]

Source: livelaw.in

The Bombay High Court has held that the bare act of touching hands of a fellow colleague is not sufficient to constitute the offence of outraging modesty of a woman. Division bench of Justice TV Nalawade and Justice KK Sonawane quashed a FIR filed against Dilip Lomate under Section 354 (assault or criminal force to a woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the Indian Penal Code. Lomate, the headmaster at Shri. Sant Dnyaneshwar Prathmik Ashram School, Osmanabad district was accused by an Assistant teacher of outraging her modesty.

The complainant Vaishali, was working at the same school as an Assistant Teacher since 2004. Her medical bills and leave allowance bills between 2015-2016 before the school authority. According to prosecution, on September 26, 2018, in the morning hours, when the complainant was busy teaching the students, the applicant headmaster appeared in the class-room. He came near Vaishali and after touching her hands, disclosed that her pending bills will be made cleared. He requested her not to complain against him to the Trustees of the School. He then threatened the complainant saying that he has relatives on high posts and no one can harm him. But, after the threat, complainant folded her hands in order to apologise, the applicant then touched her hands and pressed them.

The complainant narrated the incident to another teacher and on October 12, 2018, she filed the report to the police for penal action against the applicant headmaster.

The applicant then filed an application under Section 482 of CrPC for quashing of the said proceedings.

Submissions

Applicant’s lawyer SJ Salunke submitted that all allegations about the attempt of applicant to outrage the modesty of complainant are false, baseless and vexatious. He argued that there was inordinate delay in lodging the FIR.

Also, while discharging her duties in the school, complainant had a habit of insubordination. She always remained absent in the school without giving prior intimation or application for leave. She ventured to put her signature on the muster roll subsequently without permission of the higher authority. A memo was issued to the complainant for her negligent conduct and demeanour in the school. The Divisional Deputy Commissioner, Social Welfare Department was appraised about frequent absence of complainant on duty without prior intimation. The applicant being headmaster of the School used to try and make her understand to behave properly. But she threatened him with a case of sexual harassment, Salunke submitted.

APP SS Chaudhari appeared on behalf of the complainant opposing the arguments advanced by the applicant’s lawyer. The FIR lodged against the applicant categorically reflects that the applicant committed offence of outraging the modesty of complainant. He caught hold the hands of complainant and pressed it with ill-intention, Chaudhari said.

Judgement

Court examined the submissions and noted-

“The aforesaid provision of Section 354 of IPC has been enacted to safeguard the public morality and decent behaviour. Therefore, if any person uses criminal force upon any woman with intention or knowledge that the woman’s modesty will be outraged, he is to be penalized. In order to constitute the offence under Section 354 of IPC, mere knowledge that the modesty of a woman is likely to be outraged is sufficient without any deliberate intention of such outrage alone for its object. It is a rule of law that, while dealing with the cases of allegation of outrage of modesty, the Court should adopt a careful approach and offence cannot be treated as trivial.”

After careful assessment of the complainant’s statement, Court observed-

“The intense scrutiny of the factual score reflects that there was no use of criminal force or assault by the applicant-Headmaster to the respondent No.2 – Assistant Teacher at the time of alleged incident. The bare act of touching the hands of fellow woman-teacher by Headmaster while uttering words that her bills would be made cleared and she should not make complaint to Trustees of the School, would not itself sufficient to constitute the offence of outraging the modesty of respondent No.2 – complainant.

The factual score of the episode of allegation of indecent behaviour of the applicant- Headmaster, prima facie, reflects that there was no culpable intention on the part of applicant-accused while touching the hands of respondent No.2 Teacher to commit the offence of outraging her modesty.”

Thus, the said FIR was quashed and set aside.

India’s Caste-Aways: Bettiah’s Doms, Mehtars Weave Bamboo, Scavenge Human Excreta for a Living

Source: newsclick.in

Showing the interiors of his hut, Dablu Mallik says: “Our grandfather came here from Parsauna village 50 years ago. This is my maternal property. I couldn’t erect a brick here; I am poor. Even this bamboo hut costs Rs 20,000.”

He says his father is mentally ill and he doesn’t have money for his treatment. “Whenever we go to the government hospital, they hook up an intravenous drip…as it finishes, we are asked to leave,” he says, worriedly, adding that “I am illiterate but not an idiot. How can a mental illness be treated with a drip?”

Manual scavenging is the only source of income for Dablu to support a family of six. Like Dablu, there are more than 300 families of Doms and Mehtars in Dom Toli of Bettiah for whom there is no escape from reality except to engage in traditional bamboo weaving and manual scavenging.

“Baans ke kam karin le. uhe se laika ke khiaine. Ab ihe madai tati sahara ba (I weave bamboos. This is the only source of income for me. All left for us is this bamboo hut.),” says Kanti Devi, a widow. “A bamboo,” she says, “costs Rs. 250. I buy one bamboo at a time; I can’t afford more than that.”

Kanti, 35, earns a maximum of Rs 200 a day by weaving bamboos. She sells the products to a middleman at the outpost who then sells them in the town market. She has four kids —two girls and two boys. She married her eldest daughter under 18 years of age a few years ago. She laments, “How can a single parent manage the needs of four children?” Her younger daughter Ruti Kumari studies in class 5 in a nearby government school. Pawan and Prem, her sons, study in Class 5 and Class 3, respectively.

Kanti was a temporary sweeper in the Agriculture Department’s office. “I worked for 15 years but I was not made a permanent employee. They were not even releasing my payment for months,” she continues, “I got multiple applications written to sahibs in the department but none paid attention to my plea. One day I gathered courage to write to the Collector to increase my salary.” As she wrote to the district magistrate, her dues [salaried at Rs.700 per month for a couple of months] were paid but her employment was discontinued for complaining [highlighting the issue outside the department].

The financial condition of Shanti Devi, Kanti’s neighbour, is no different. Shanti works as a sweeper in some upper caste families. “I sometimes hide from families where I work that I am an achhut (untouchable),” Shanti admits. “We doms are called to feast in the funerals of Hindus [upper castes], they say that we are the door to moksha (salvation). But after the feast, we again become untouchables.”

Holding her grandson on her lap, Shanti murmurs,”Ekni ke ka hoyi, kaise padhiyen san ee garibi me. (How they will study in this poverty.)” Her married son is also into traditional bamboo weaving.

Anuradha Devi, who is weaving bena (hand fans) at her home, tells us that 25 benas can be made from a bamboo. She says, “Each bena costs between Rs. 10 and Rs. 20, depending on the demand.” “Many people in the town have proper power backup for electric fans thus the demand of hand fans has fallen.”

The two lanes of Dom Toli are separated by a stagnant sewage line. Ushmi Devi, whose hut faces the sewage line, says, “This overflows when there is rain. We are suffering because we have to. None from the municipality comes to clean the toilet; it is left to us because it is our caste job.” There is only one public toilet in this lane that houses more than 50 Dom families.

Rajwanti Devi, Ushmi’s married daughter lives with her. Rajwanti says, “The family of my husband doesn’t respect me.” She was working as an agricultural labourer in Punjab’s fields some years ago. After the birth of my children, it was quite difficult to manage them alone in a foreign place; that is why I came back.”

Sujit Mallik, 28, is unstacking the bamboo bundle which he bought in Rs 1,800. He expects a profit of Rs. 1000 on this. “Abhi roj ka nali- mori ka kam kar ke aye hain, kal se isme hath lagayenge (I just have returned after finishing the routine scavenging, will start weaving tomorrow.)” Sujit earns Rs. 350 which he says is maximum one can earn a day in the business of bamboo weaving. He travels to nearby blocks like Chhapwa to sell the products.

Ramsomari Mallik, in her 60s, is splitting bamboos. “We are called Mehtars. We have been removing faeces and weaving bamboos for generations,” she says. Her home, which is not in good condition, is still one of few pucca homes in the toli. “This was made under Indira Awas Yojana decades ago,” she adds.

Ramsomari’s husband is paralysed. She has three daughters; two of them are helping her in weaving. Chulbul Kumari, Ramsomari’s youngest daughter, studies in Class 6 in a government school at Sagar Pokhra. She says, “I feel disheartened when I see my mother working tirelessly. As it is summer vacation, I can help her with this.” “Bamboo weaving is not easy, it is difficult. I don’t want this traditional art to disappear from my family.”
Old Age Pension, Awas Yojana Far Cry

The mukhiya (village head), Ramsomari says, doesn’t approve vridha (old age) pension. Mukhiya Ravindra Kumar Ravi alias Ravi Painter left the village after learning that a news reporter has come to the village; he did not respond to phone calls.

None in the Dom Toli knows that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar recently extended the pension amount for those who are in the age-group of 60-79 to Rs 400 per month while those above 80 years old are to receive Rs 500 per month as pension under the scheme.

“Ration ke chaur etna kharab dewela ki suaro na khai (The rice given to us is so contaminated that even pigs would not eat it),” says Rita Devi. She tells us that the ration is carted once in two months. Most of the families in Dom Toli cook food on wood fire as they can’t afford a gas cylinder every month.

Rita gave Rs. 15,000 to the mukhiya for releasing the Awas Yojana fund last year but was not provided with any receipt. She alleges some corruption angle. “I went to the municipality today and they assured us that our funds would be released within a week. It is exhausting. If we go to the municipality every day, who will do our bamboo work?”, she adds.

“Ketna sal se suna tani san ki Indira Awas pas hoyi, pas hoyi, lekin kuchhu naikhe bhail. (We all have been hearing since ages that funds of Indira Awas Yojana would be released; we have received nothing yet.),” Rita adds. She fears that speaking to media may further suppress the release of funds.

Like many others in Dom Toli, Shivakali’s life is also pivoted on the bamboo weaving. Shivkali Mallik’s son Rama Mallik died of a prolonged illness. “We visited the hospital and they gave us some pills; Rama became temporarily stable. One day, his condition deteriorated which took him away from us,” Shivkali says, “Look at this wall [behind Shivkali: Inset], two days ago bricks came crumbling down to the ground due to a rainy gale. Government is not releasing funds for the construction of the house”

“We are poor, how can we bribe them for Awas Yojana,” says Badlol Mallik who is cleaning the bamboo clum nodes in the front of his home. “Ihe noon roti ba (Bamboo is livelihood for us.)” He plans of making kharata brooms out of the bamboo clum.

Guddu Mallik says, “We had the livestock [pigs] worth of Rs 1 lakh. All of them died a few months ago due to unknown medical reasons. Each adult pig, Guddu says, is sold at a minimum of Rs. 8,000. “Pork’s price has now gone up to Rs. 200 per kg. Had there been pigs, our financial condition would have been better,” he adds.

Mehtars and Doms have been traditionally rearing pigs here. There are numerous pork stalls and pig slaughter centres.

“Badka log ke makan pe makan banata auri dom-mehtar-dhangad-mushar san bhukhe mara tare san (Rich are getting richer and Dom-Mehtars don’t even get ration from the government.),” exclaims Chandan Mallik, a pig butcher, whose Aadhaar card was not issued because the biometric device failed to register his disfigured fingerprint. “I am good enough for EPIC [voter ID] but not for Aadhaar.”

It has been three years since Chandan has received any ration.

Panna Devi is weaving dauras (baskets to be used in Bihari weddings) on the road. She has dipped some bamboos in sewage water. She says, “We don’t even have clean water to drink, how will we arrange water to dilate bamboo fibres.”

Each daura has a market value of Rs. 40 which requires at least one labour hour. Panna earns a net profit of Rs 150 after six hours of labour. She feels that bamboo weaving is underpaid, she also thinks of leaving this work but the fear of loss of tradition haunts her. “This is our ancestral work, how can we leave this?”

Kishore Mallik, who has a furnished house at one end of Dom Toli, tells us that his grandfather built it with the income he had from a government job. For him, caste is independent of class. Asked about any experience of untouchability in spite of being relatively well-off, Kishore confirms, “Yes, once I went to Areraj Malahi and I was prohibited from touching the hand pump by the upper caste people there after they came to know my caste” “They buy our daura and supli for the sacred festival of Chhath but don’t even let us touch their hand pump. They pour water into our hands maintaining a distance. In some villages, we are asked to go to Dalit basti to drink water.”

Doctors on strike in Jharkhand, OPDs across the state to remain shut on Monday

Source: hindustantimes.com

The out-patient department (OPD) services at government hospitals across Jharkhand are off on Monday after doctors decided to skip duty following Indian Medical Association (IMA) call to boycott health service in protest against the assault on doctors in West Bengal.

IMA-Jamshedpur general secretary Dr Mrittunjay Singh on Saturday appealed to the doctors of government and private hospitals to boycott work from Monday 6am to Tuesday 6am in solidarity with the assault on junior doctors at Neel Ratan Sarakar Medical College Hospital (NRS) in Kolkata on June 10 after the death of an 85-year-old patient during treatment there.

However, emergency services in all the hospitals and nursing homes will be operation. “Emergency service will be operational but OPDs will be closed as our members will be on strike following call by national chapter of IMA across the country. We have also appealed to the doctors in all private hospitals and nursing homes like Tata Main Hospital (TMH) to support the cause of doctors demanding security and healthy working atmosphere in hospitals,” Singh told media.

IMA-Jamshedpur president, Dr Umesh Khan, said all the doctors would congregate at Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College Hospital (MGMMCH) at 10 am tomorrow and march to the deputy commissioner’s (DC) office.

Dr Amal Patro, a member of IMA, said doctors were all set for a decisive fight this time. “If government doesn’t provide us security, we will close down OPDs. We won’t tolerate attacks on us anymore,” said Dr Patro.

Meanwhile, city-based Dr SP Foundation, a doctors body in Jamshedpur, also condemned the attack on doctors in West Bengal and demanded strong action against the culprits. The foundation director, Dr TK Chatterjee, said murderous attacks on doctors were an alarm bell for the society. “We ask union health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan to ensure adequate security for doctors on duty and healthy workplace atmosphere,” demanded Dr Chatterjee.

Jamshedpur has several leading hospitals like Tata Motors Hospital, Tinplate Hospital, Mercy Hospital, Bramhanada Hrudalayala Hospital, Medica Hospital and a host of private hospitals and nursing homes.

100 Kids Have Died Due To Encephalitis In Bihar, Govt Seems Clueless About How To Save Them

Source: indiatimes.com

The death toll due to the Acute Encephalitis Syndrome outbreak in Bihar has reached 100 and despite claims made by state government, the number of deaths are increasing with more and more infected children rushing to the hospitals.

Muzzafurpur district is mainly affected by the outbreak and 83 children have succumbed to Encephalitis at Sri Krishna Medical College while 17 died at Kejriwal hospital. The union health minister Harsh Vardhan visited the Muzaffarpur yesterday and took stock of the situation. Different media reports said that the minister was shown black flags. However, the minister said he has spoken to “every concerned individual about this issue”.

The situation turned grim when a five year od child while three minsiters around and this enraged the anger of the parents of the children and they confronted the ministers. Vardhan, however, later held a meeting and assured a research that would be undertaken to ascertain the cause of the disease to order any such outbreak in future. He was quoted News18.

“I assure the people of the area, especially the affected families, that the government will extend all possible help and measures to the state government,” Vardhan said.

Despite all problems and considering the seriousness of this disease, I appreciate the efforts put in by the doctors to ensure efficient treatment to everyone,” he added.

Nitish Kumar, the CM had also expressed grief over the deaths of the children and announced “an ex gratia payment of Rs. 4 lakh to the next of the kin of those who have died”. The lack of awareness about his to tackle the decease is also the reason for outbreak, the CM said.

The health department of the state has cited hypoglycaemia in which the blood sugar level go down as the main reason behind the deaths of the children. Acute Encephalitis Syndrome is a viral diseases that has symptoms like high fever, convulsions and headaches.