Month: June 2019

Suspected outbreak of encephalitis claims lives of 21 children in Patna this year

Source: newindianexpress.com

PATNA: The outbreak of suspected encephalitis in North Bihar’s Muzaffarpur and its some adjoining districts included Vaishali has reportedly claimed the lives of around 21 children from January to May 9. As many as 18 children, diagnosed with the syndrome of encephalitis, have been admitted in Muzaffarpur based SKMCH and other private clinics.

The outbreak has gone beyond the Muzaffarpur and many children belonging to extremely poor families, have also been diagnosed with the syndrome of acute encephalitis  in neighbouring Vaishali, Sheohar, East and West Champaran districts. On Sunday alone, 4 new suspected cases of encephalitis diagnosed with four children were brought and admitted at SKMCH in Muzaffarpur.

“This time again after a gap of the last three years, the outbreak of syndrome of encephalitis has been reported. It occurs only when heat coupled with extreme humidity rises to an extreme level. It is contained as soon s Monsoon arrives”, Dr M Singh said, adding that sudden loss in the level of sugar in the body leads to collapse of life support functioning in the body of a minor.

Meanwhile, Reena Devi of Muzaffarpur said her 6-year-old son Raghu developed a symptom of high fever with breathing problem suddenly after returning from a nearby mango orchard in Motipur.

“Now, he has been admitted at SKMCH  under critical condition”, she said, adding that fearing further casualties in many remote areas of Muzaffarpur like Saraiya, Sherpur and others, many families have left the villages.

On Saturday, Prince Kumar of Vaishali and Chanda Kumari of Sheohar died while on Friday and other past few days, Madhu Kumari, Pawan Kumar, Sonu Kumar and many other minors had died in Muzaffarpur and other private clinics during treatments.

State health minister Mangal Panday claimed that all efforts are on to save the lives of children, who are being diagnosed with symptoms of encephalitis. Dr S K Shahi, superintendent of SKMCH, told the media that all arrangements have been made to check the outbreak of this disease.

He admitted that nearly 38 kids with symptoms of encephalitis were admitted between January and June this year. According to Muzaffarpur civil surgeon Dr SP Singh, a team of health department had recently visited the SKMCH and held a high-level meeting with doctors on the outbreak.

Patna’s Chanakya National Law University trains panchayat functionaries for faster dispute resolution

Source: hindustantimes.com

In a new initiative aimed at resolving the growing number of disputes at the village level by strengthening the justice delivery system at the grassroots level, Chanakya National Law University (CNLU), Patna, in collaboration with the department of panchayati raj, government of Bihar, has completed training of sarpanchs,up-sarpanchs, nyaya mitras, and gram katchari secretaries of Patna district.

Two-day trainings were held at the office of chair professor, panchayati raj, CNLU. About 1,000 members of gram katchari have been given training, both textual and practical, within three months. A moot court was also incorporated in the training programme under retired district judges and IAS officers.

The move is significant as it could help in lessening the mounting load of litigations in courts. As per the law, no court shall take cognisance of any case or suit that is cognisable by a bench of the gram katchari.

“We will start it in 14 other districts of Bihar with the help of the department of panchayati raj next month. Amrit Lal Meena, principal secretary, and Kuldeep Narayan, director of the department, have expressed their satisfaction over the successful completion of training programme of Patna district. Once trained, gram katcharis can bring about a perceptible change in local governance,” said SP Singh, chair professor.

“Bihar is the only state where chair professor has been estabconsent

lished by the department of panchayati raj. Ministry of panchayati Raj, government of India, has also shown an interest in establishing chair professor. I got a call from the ministry in this regard. The executive committee of CNLU has given its to start a PHD programme on various aspects of panchayati raj under the chair professor,” he added.

As per the Panchayati Raj Act, 2006, Bihar has set up gram katcharis in every panchayat for the purpose of discharging the mandated judicial functions.

The law stipulates that the state government shall, in the prescribed manner, make arrangements for training of the sarpanch, up-sarpanch, panches and nyaya mitras of the gram katchari.

Bihar has 8,392 gram katcharis and more than 33,000 personnel would be trained in phases. Chief minister Nitish Kumar had also earlier said that cases coming under the jurisdiction of gram katcharis should be transferred to them from police stations top reduce the load of litigations. Each gram katchari has five members. A sarpanch is a key figure and gram katchari is an important institution to entertain suits and cases on application of parties and police reports.

It has the powers of a civil court under the Code of Civil Procedure,1908, to take evidence and to compel attendance of the parties, witnesses and such other persons as may be required and production of documents or instruments for disposal of such suits or cases.

The powers of village katcharis include clamping of Section 144 in their jurisdiction up to 15 days, beyond which it needs to be vetted by the SDO concerned. imposing fine up to Rs 1,000 and deal with land disputes, criminal trespass, public nuisance, eve teasing or family issues.


‘Bihar Suno Nahin Dekho’: How these women are trying to change perception about Bihar

Source: indiatvnews.com

The very mention of Bihar brings images of an under-developed society into the mind — when the state clearly has emerged as one of the fastest growing regions in India, clocking over 10 per cent annual growth for the past decade.

According to the Bihar Economic Survey, in 2016-17, the growth rate was 11.3 per cent, while the national average was 7 per cent.

Rapid growth in infrastructure, energy and communication sectors and public investment in roads played a major role in bringing the turnaround. Other important factor that contributed in the spurt of opportunities was the plethora of campaigners who worked tirelessly for changing the perception about Bihar.

Amongst the campaigners are two women — Yashi Malviya and Sukriti Yadav — who took it upon themselves to inform the world how beautiful Bihar can be.

The two women, both of them journalists, began a campaign through their website ‘Bihar Bytes’ and travelled to as many as 32 districts of Bihar. From their travel was born #biharsunonahidekho — capturing the essence of the state.

Under the hashtag, they ran video clips, photographs and stories about several unexplored places of Bihar — places that can be on the bucket lists of tourists — on the social media . 

“One fine day, we Googled Bihar and we were shocked to see that there were almost no good images of the state on the internet. Bihar was perceived in a negative light. And there on we took it upon us to work and improve the image of the state,” Yashi Malviya, co-founder at Bihat Bytes, said.

Speaking to India TV, Sukriti Yadav, co-founder at Bihar Bytes, said, “I have heard several people say there was no place to visit in Bihar. We visited a lot of places which were not promoted. Manjhar Kund, Tutla Bhawani waterfall, Rohtasgarh Fort, Panth Pakkar, Darbhanga Fort, Rajnagar Palace, and others were on our list. We collected relevant data about the places to spread the word through social media, our website and various travel and blogger meet-ups.”

Perhaps a start is made — to attract people from across the world and the Bihari diaspora to come to explore the state.  

The two campaigners now only hope that they bring a change in how Bihar is perceived in India and across the world.

“I have experienced a whole new world and a different side of Bihar which had been neglected. And I want everyone to visit those places. We have heard it enough that Bihar is a backward state. We believe that increase in tourism will give a boost to employment and economic growth of the state,” Sukriti signed off. 

Jharkhand Food Minister Orders Exhumation of 65-year-old’s Body to Probe Starvation Charge

Source:news18.com

Latehar: Jharkhand Food Minister Saryu Rai on Saturday directed the Latehar administration to exhume the body of a 65-year-old man for post-mortem in the wake of allegations that he died of starvation three days ago.

Reports published in a section of the local media have claimed that Ramcharan Munda, a resident of Lurgumi Kala village in the district, died of starvation on Wednesday after being denied ration over the past two months, a charge denied by the administration.

Talking to reporters here, Rai said he has taken a serious note of the allegation and directed the administration to follow strict protocol while carrying out an investigation into the case.

“If the reports are true and anybody is found guilty, he or she will be punished as per norms,” the minister said, adding the probe would cover all aspects in the case, including the allegation that Munda did not receive ration for two months.

He appealed to the opposition parties to refrain from politicising the issue.

Meanwhile, the sub-divisional magistrate of Mahuadand block in the district, Sudhir Kumar Das, asserted that Munda did not die of starvation and that his family gets all facilities entitled to it.

He also said the local ration dealer died three months ago, and his wife had taken charge of the public distribution system in the village.

“The administration had issued instructions to maintain offline records for distribution of ration following reports that poor internet connectivity is hampering transactions over point-of-sale machines. Munda and his family were given Rs 2,000 and 50 kg rice,” he added.

Several political leaders have reached out to Munda’s family after reports of his death surfaced in the local media.

Sources said local members of the Shibu Soren-led Jharkhand Mukti Morcha have given the family 50-kg rice and Rs 5,000 in cash.

Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) general secretary Bandhu Tirkey, who met the bereaved family on Saturday, expressed hope that the government will take necessary action in the case.

“The food minister takes such issues seriously. I expect he will take action soon,” he added.

Ranchi MP Sanjay Seth lists issues to raise in parliament

Source: hindustantimes.com

BJP’s newly elected Ranchi MP Sanjay Seth on Friday identified a number of issues that he would raise before the parliament and other platforms to mitigate people’s woes and ameliorate the condition of Ranchi parliamentary constituency.

Speaking to media, Seth said that he had identified a number of issues like construction of railway over bridge (ROB) at various locations, traffic and water supply problems, stoppage of important trains at particular station, displacement issue, setting up of Forest Research Institute and developing tourist spots that need to be addressed.

“After being elected as Ranchi MP, I have been visiting the entire constituency since a fortnight to interact with people to know their problems. I assured them that their MP would raise the issues vehemently in Parliament and other platforms,” Seth said.

ROBS AT CHUTIA AND NAGRI

Speaking about his plans, Seth said that he would talk to railway ministry to construct ROB at Chutia and Nagri in Ranchi city. “We have identified that heavy traffic jams at these points create chaos at times. Construction of ROBs at these two points is urgently needed,” he said.

Seth also pointed out that people of small town like Muri didn’t have privilege to travel in Garib Rath as the train doesn’t stop at Muri railway station. “I will see if Muri becomes a stoppage for Garib Rath, “Seth said.

RISING POLLUTION LEVEL IN KHALARI COAL BELT

The Ranchi MP showed his concern over rising pollution level in Khalari coal belt. “Coal India Limited (CIL) is engaged in coal mining activities in this area. I have witnessed smoky atmosphere in Khalari and there is no water sprinkling to settle the dust. Traffic jams due to heavy vehicles transporting coal is another major issue. I will knock the doors of state pollution control board and other agencies to solve the problem, “Seth said.

FOREST RESEARCH INSTITUTE IN RANCHI

Seth also advocated for setting up a Forest Research Institute in Ranchi and up gradation of Ranchi University as a central university. “Jharkhand is reach in forest reserve but we don’t have a forest research institute. The migration of students from Ranchi for higher studies is another cause of concern,” he said.

NITI AAYOG’S ASSISTANCE NEEDED FOR WHOLESOME DEVELOPMENT OF RANCHI

Seth said that he would submit a report for the overall development of Ranchi to the NITI Aayog within two months. “The report titled–Antyodaya Se Sarvodaya Tak–would be prepared after consultation with every section of the society. I hope that Aayog would take a positive action in this regard,” he said.

SAMADHAN KENDRA IN ALL SIX ASSEMBLY CONSTITUENCIES

Disclosing his plans on how to serve people better, Seth assured that he would soon open one office (Samadhan Kendra) in each assembly constituency under Ranchi Lok Sabha seat.

“It will be made functional on all seven days of a week except on holidays of festive nature. I will ensure to sit in these offices at least once in every ten days. People need not to visit my place for their work,” Seth said.

As Heat Intensifies and Hand Pumps Dry Up, Districts in Bihar Grapple with Drinking Water Crisis

Source: news18.com

Patna: Sixty-year-old Fula Devi, a resident of Shahpur Kasim village in Vaishali district in Bihar, stares at tough days ahead.

Her eyes well up as she talks about how her crops have been destroyed due to a lack of water.

“I have lost all my cash crops spread over 10 kathas of land (17,000 sq ft) and incurred losses worth more than Rs 25,000. Our misery does not end here. We have to struggle for drinking water as well. All the hand pumps have dried up here,” she says.

Flood-prone Bihar is known for an abundance of water resources. However, several districts are facing an acute water crises this summer due to mismanagement of water bodies and a population boom. The water table has gone below 250 feet from the ground level and hand pumps and tube wells, the main sources of water for drinking and irrigation in most villages, have also dried up.

Even as locals are struggling to cope with this crisis, farmers are the worst affected. Given the non-availability of irrigation water and intense heat, their crops are fighting for survival. Their livestock does not get required quantities of drinking water either.

Shahpur Kasim is one of the many villages in Vaishali district where people are grappling with such a crisis. Villagers here before never faced such a situation until last year since tube-wells and hand pumps always had water at 55 feet.

The situation has now turned grave as the water table has dipped to 250 feet, with government hand pumps failing to pull water from the depth.

In Brahmapur village in the same district, underground water tanks have been constructed at 20-50 feet and water motors have been installed to extricate water, which is then hand-pumped for consumption.

Collecting drinking water has turned into a nightmare for villagers. Here, women flock to get a few buckets of muddy water for their daily activities.

Fewer wells are left with water due to the onslaught of tube-wells and hand pumps.

While a few parts of the district receive drinking water through tankers sent by the government, others now buy the same.

Chandan Kumar is another victim incurring heavy losses as his mango orchard and lychee plantation have completely dried up.

Kumar had planted the crops in 10 acres of land, but as there has been hardly any yield, he incurred losses worth Rs 5 lakh.

“The crisis is severe because the water level has gone down severely. No one had ever imagined that tube-wells in the village could become defunct like hand pumps as they were bored 100-200 feet below ground level,” he says.

While several villages in Lalganj block of Vaishali district face a similar crisis, the situation is the worst in Sirsa.

Besides the mango and lychee orchards, wheat sown on hectares of lands have perished due to a fall in water levels in the region.

Some of the well-off villagers have installed submersible pumps at 350 feet below the ground level to get drinking water.

Rajeshwar Singh, who has a fish pond in Sirsa village, uses a submersible pump. “We were left with no other option as our ponds were drying up and the fish had started dying. There was a drinking water crisis as well,” he says.

In the same village, Mushar Tola has been badly hit as well. Here, elderly people walk up to a kilometre to carry potable water home.

The Jal Nal Yojana (water and tap scheme) devised to provide potable water to every household in the state has failed due to improper implementation and deep-rooted corruption. The scheme has also seen wastage of water.

According to its provisions, every APL (above poverty line) family would be charged a water tax of Rs 60 a month, while BPL (below poverty line) families would have to pay Rs 30 every month.

The government had also decided to provide filtered drinking water to areas with high levels of arsenic and iron in the water.

The district public health engineering (PHE) department has devised a long-term plan towards water conservation and usage. As part of the project, the department plans to install iron containers near one-acre farms to collect water during rain.

Executive engineer (PHE) Manoj Kumar told News18, “There is a no clear policy on the part of the government regarding the installation of submersible pumps, the rampant use of which is further taking down groundwater. The department is planning to launch an awareness programme on water usage and its conservation in the district and trying to make it a part of the school curriculum.”

Vaishali usually gets 1,168mm of rain annually. But last year, it saw a deficit of 52.7% — the highest in any district in the state.

State PHE Minister Vinod Narayan Jha, who is reportedly taking stock of the prevailing situation on a daily basis, at a recent press conference said, “The department is well prepared to meet any challenge thrown by deficit rainfall in districts. We are monitoring the groundwater table reports on a daily basis.”

Jha said 25 districts in the state are drought-affected and the government has identified 37,000 non-functional hand pumps of which 15,010 have been repaired and 3,440 replaced.

Jharkhand ration tragedy blamed on internet glitch

Source : telegraphindia.com

The death of a senior citizen in rural Jharkhand has been linked to starvation, allegedly triggered by a two-month ration freeze that the dealer has blamed on Internet glitches.

If the account is established, it will shine a torch on a little-debated aspect of the celebrated ration delivery system based on the online biometric model.

“Ramcharan Munda, 65, was not given rations for the last two months by his PDS (public distribution system) dealer. Our officials have found this to be true. There’s ‘zero’ written in the delivery chart for two months in respect of Munda,” Latehar deputy commissioner Rajiw Kumar told The Telegraph on Thursday.

Such a confirmation is a rare occurrence in Jharkhand. As many as 21 people have died in the state since September 2017 of suspected starvation, according to the state convener of the Right to Food Campaign, Asharfi Nand Prasad. But the state government has consistently refused to admit that any of them was caused by hunger, citing pre-existing ailments as the probable causes.

Munda, who died on Wednesday, hailed from Durup, a remote Latehar village more than 170km from Ranchi. Sources said Munda lived with wife Chamri Devi and daughter Sunila Kumari in a hut. His son died of TB two years ago.

Prasad blamed the state government for the recurring tragedies.

“The area in Latehar where Munda died of starvation lacks good Internet facilities. This was reported to the district administration by the PDS dealer,” said Prasad, who is part of a nine-member state government committee formed last year to formulate a protocol for defining and investigating starvation deaths.

“The state government should make the food supply offline, instead of following the existing biometric-based ration delivery system, in areas with network issues,” he added.

Deputy commissioner Kumar said he would investigate whether the PDS dealer had sold Munda’s rations to others at a premium.

“This is too serious a matter. I fail to understand how ration to this senior citizen was denied for two months on the pretext of poor online connectivity of the point-of-sale machine and an unresponsive biometric machine,” the deputy commissioner said.

Jharkhand has put in place a system of “express money” under which the panchayat head keeps Rs 10,000 that can be used during such exigencies. Kumar said he would find out why the money was not used in this instance.

James Herunj, state convener of NREGA Watch, said one of the NGO’s aid workers, Afsana, had visited Munda’s home a day after his death.

“The home had nothing, a clear sign that they lived in abject poverty,” he said quoting Afsana, who had reached the place after Munda’s family had created him using money pooled from fellow villagers.

Afsana said Munda and Chamri Devi were old-age pensioners but had not been receiving pension for the past five months.

Deputy commissioner Kumar confirmed Afsana’s visit to Munda’s home but could not say whether the couple were pensioners.

He said Afsana had informed SDO Mahuadarn Sudhir, who had sent an official to the Munda home with 50kg rice and Rs 2,000 for the family.

Patna Durbar: How Nitish Kumar-Sushil Modi’s bond keeps BJP-JDU alliance afloat

Source: .indiatoday.in

A June 4 tweet from Union Minister Giriraj Singh, wherein he apparently taunted key ally Nitish Kumar for attending iftar events just “for a show” followed by Sushil Modi’s somewhat ambassadorial defence of Bihar chief minister has once again highlighted the case of the two cozy, but somewhat mismatched, allies in Bihar.

Sushil Modi’s BJP and Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal-United (JDU) are clearly bound by a common vision and purpose in Bihar, yet also pushed apart by their political teammates and their temperaments.

It’s not for nothing that Giriraj Singh’s tweet has once again brought the irony behind the electoral friendship of Kumar and Sushil Modi, the tallest BJP leader in Bihar and one of the strongest supporters of Nitish-BJP alliance, to the fore. Kumar and Sushil Modi, in their contemporaneous careers, often symbolise the prisoner’s dilemma that circumstances had thrust upon them.

The two have somehow seen through the bitterness and understood that they were better off collaborating than confronting. But there are spoilers galore. Singh was clearly one of them.

Fresh from his promotion to the Union Cabinet in the new Narendra Modi government, the senior BJP leader, for whom Nitish Kumar had campaigned during the Lok Sabha elections to ensure his victory, on Tuesday morning tweeted four pictures from three different iftars, saying: “How beautiful the pictures could have been had falahaar (fruit feast) been organised with similar fervour during Navratri. We fall behind in our own rituals and religion but are ahead in showing off.”

These pictures were from iftar parties organised by the JD-U, Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) and Opposition alliance member Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) (HAMS). Since Nitish Kumar was the only leader present in all the four pictures, the man and the target behind Singh’s tweet was not lost on anyone.

Not only this, Singh’s tweet was uploaded on the eve of Eid ul-Fitr and its underlying message seemed to be confronting the inclusive outreach of Prime Minister Modi and the secular fabric of the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government in Bihar.

Though there are suggestions that BJP President Amit Shah has advised Singh against making such comments, the Union minister has not withdrawn his tweet, which was still visible till the time of filing this report.

A section of JD-U leaders, however, refused to accept Giriraj’s tweet as a coincidence. They see a purpose in the tweet, as Singh’s quip has come at a time when relations with the BJP have turned frosty after Nitish Kumar refused to accept a “symbolic representation in the Union Cabinet.”

The BJP had offered a solitary Cabinet berth to Nitish Kumar’s JD-U in the Union Cabinet, describing it as a “symbolic representation.”

The Bihar chief minister, who heads a party of 16 Lok Sabha and six Rajya Sabha MPs, promptly shot down the saffron proposal on the ground that it should have been proportionate and not symbolic.

In what seemed like a return riposte, Nitish expanded his ministry on June 2 by inducting as many as eight JD-U members while offering just one berth to the BJP, which was not accepted by the latter. “Giriraj Singh is not alone to have taken potshots at the NDA alliance in Bihar.

In 2017, when JD-U rejoined NDA, our former National President Sharad Yadav had defied the decision. While JD-U quickly showed the door to our former national president, the BJP has failed to force Giriraj to make amends,” said a senior JD-U leader.

JD-U chief spokesperson Sanjay Singh has described Giriraj Singh’s tweet as a clear manifestation of the fact that BJP has no control over such leaders. “It is time for the BJP to take the comments of Giriraj seriously and take action,” he said.

They say momentous eras are appreciated only in retrospect, but in this case, where Nitish Kumar accepted BJP as an alliance partner, the two have together delivered magic.

A landmark Lok Sabha election victory in 2019 where the NDA won 39 of Bihar’s 40 seats looks both unprecedented and unrepeatable. The combined magic of BJP and JD-U made a spectacular start in 2005 when the two parties together unseated Lalu Prasad who seemed invincible then.

Since then, the two parties have prospered and gone from strength to strength, evolving a relationship that was to be the making of modern Bihar.

When the BJP and JD-U separated in 2013 and fought two elections against each other, the BJP won the 2014 Lok Sabha poll while Nitish Kumar won the 2015 assembly polls. The two once again came together in 2017 to deliver a watershed result in the 2019 Lok Sabha election.

Today, however, with Bihar Assembly polls scheduled in 2020, the two parties, JD-U and BJP, need to unthaw their relationship to fill up the fissures, which have come up after the BJP refused to let Nitish have more than one representation in the Union Cabinet.Giriraj Singh or his tweets can make the process a painful one for NDA in Bihar.

EESL Issues Tender for LED Street Lights in Gram Panchayats of Jharkhand

Source: saurenergy.com

The Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL), a joint venture of PSUs under the Union Ministry of Power, GoI, has issued a tender inviting bid for 24W LED Street Lights contract for all Gram Panchayats in the state of Jharkhand.

This tender was issued under EESL’s Street Light National Programme (SLNP).

The scope of tender includes designing, manufacturing, testing, supplying and five years on-site warranty of 24W LED Street Lights and other related works for all Gram Panchayats in Jharkhand.

Furthermore, a part of financing received from KFW Development Bank will be used for payment under this contract.

KFW has provided finance to India for the cost of project called Energy Efficiency in Energy Intensive Sectors (EESL II).

As per the bidding document, international competitive bidding will be conducted in accordance with KFW’s ‘Single Stage: Two-Envelope’ bidding procedure and is open to all bidders from eligible source countries.

The tender issuing body said that, in order to participate in the bidding under this invitation for bids, all interested bidders have to necessarily register themselves on the EESL portal i.e. https://eesl.eproc.in.

For the cost of bidding, the bidder shall bear all costs associated with the preparation and submission of its bid, and the purchaser shall in no case be responsible or liable for those costs, regardless of the conduct or outcome of the bidding process.

Meanwhile, the bids will be submitted comprising two envelopes simultaneously, one envelope containing the technical bid while the other envelope containing the price bid; and both the envelopes enclosed together in an outer single envelope.

Blood banks across Jharkhand struggle with severe shortage

Source: hindustantimes.com

An unprecedented crisis in blood banks of medical colleges and hospitals across Jharkhand has put patients in a spot and the lives of many are on line as doctors are not able to carry on with treatment due to lack of blood. In the last 72 hours, two patients have died at the Patliputra Medical College Hospital (PMCH) in Dhanbad and surgeries of over a dozen critical cases in different wards are on hold due to the blood crisis.

The crisis in blood banks has been attributed to several factors by authorities of hospitals such as PMCH, RIMS and MGMMCH. Many have cited the long duration of the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, which meddled with the regular stocking up of blood at the blood banks.

PMCH authorities on Thursday held an emergency meeting and sent an SOS alert to donor clubs across the district for bailing out the institution immediately, as several critical patients continued to suffer.

On Thursday, relatives of three bullet-injury patients, Manoj, Nageswar and Sanjay, had to look for blood donors from their homes district of Giridih, so that the trio could be operated upon at PMCH. All three were admitted to PMCH in a critical condition on Wednesday night. Since the PMCH blood bank was nearly empty, doctors had to call for donors from Giridih.

Earlier on Tuesday, two gynaecology department patients Jyoti Kumari (20) and Shahjadi Khatoon ( 35) died allegedly due to lack of blood. However Dr AK Singh, an official at the PMCH blood bank said that both were severely complicated cases by the time they arrived from nursing homes. Under Janani Shishu Siraksha Yojana, both patients were entitled to get free blood from hospital. “The hospital had provided blood to them in time,” Dr AK Singh said.

PMCH Dhanbad requires 50 units of blood per day to cater to the requirement of patients. But on Thursday, the hospital’s blood bank was left with merely seven units of blood. “Of course there is an unprecedented crisis of blood as incoming flow is almost choked. However, we do not let the patients of hospital to suffer by linking them with donors”, said Dr AK Singh of PMCH.

Patients at hospitals Rajendra Institute of Medical Science (RIMS) in Ranchi and Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College Hospital (MGMMCH) in Jamshedpur are suffering from a similar crisis. Dr KK Singh, blood bank in-charge of RIMS Ranchi on Thursday said the crisis had aggravated badly but now the situation has improved. RIMS requires an average of 82 units of blood per day. On Thursday, the blood bank at RIMS had a stock of 200 units.

MGMMCH had 150 units of blood stocked on Thursday. The hospital requires 20 to 25 units of blood per day to cater to the requirement of patients. “We were facing a major crisis of blood for the past few days but now the stock has improved “, said Dr VVK Chaudhary, blood bank in-charge of MGMMCH Jamshedpur.