Category: Jharkhand

MCI inspects PMCH, may okay 50 more MBBS seats for Jharkhand

Source: hindustantimes.com

Jharkhand may get 50 more MBBS seats in current academic session as a three-member team of Medical Council of India (MCI) on Wednesday held sudden inspection of Patliputra Medical College Hospital (PMCH), Dhanbad, for verification of compliance report over 100 MBBS seats.

Though the MCI inspectors refused to share details with the media, they looked satisfied after the inspection and verification of the compliance reports sent by PMCH to MCI about faculty strength in college and infrastructure in hospital.

The MCI team comprising Dr RG Vevek Medical College, Kolkata, Dr Ram Awadh Singh Kushwaha of RGM Medical College, Lucknow and Dr Jaswinder Singh of Chandigarh Medical College reached PMCH on Wednesday morning and began inspection of hospital’s OPD, wards, radiology and pathology department one by one before reaching college.

MCI Inspectors also took registration of OPD patients of the day till 2 pm (1601), admitted indoor (517) major operation (30), minor operation ( 64), normal delivery 15, cesarean (10).

PMCH principal Dr Shailendra Kumar said three-member MCI team made spot inspection of all faculties and hospital wards and verified them with our compliance report. Now on basis of their findings, the MCI board would decide to permit 100 seats in the current session. “ We are hopeful of regaining 100 MBBS seats as maximum deficiencies have been fulfilled”, he said.

MCI had increased 50 seats each (total 100) to PMCH and Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College Hospital (MGMMCH) Jamshedpur in 2013. But due to deficiencies MCI reduced 50 seats of PMCH in 2017 and MGMMCH in 2019.

“In March, the MCI had inspected PMCH and pointed out deficiencies to be fulfilled to get permission for 100 seats. In April, PMCH had sent compliance report. Today Inspectors had come to verify compliance report”, said principal. He said only 20% faculty deficiency is left otherwise posts of senior residents and junior resident and assistant professors have been filled up.

Till date, Jharkhand has 580 MBBS seats, including 100 each of three newly set up, Palamu, Hazaribagh, Dumka, 180 of RIMS Ranchi,50 each of PMCH and MGMMCH.

PMCH superintendent Dr HK Singh said except oxygen pipe line, the hospital has fulfilled all deficiencies pointed out by the MCI.

Nitish banks on Prashant Kishore’s Jharkhand groundwork for rich poll harvest

Source: hindustantimes.com

Janata Dal (United) national president and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar is all set to launch party’s election campaign in poll-bound Jharkhand on August 25. Mega preparations are on in the state’s capital city by the party workers to welcome Kumar, who would be holding a meeting with around 2,000 leaders from across Bihar during his four hours stay on Sunday.

Assembly elections are due in Jharkhand later this year. The state carved out of Bihar in 2000 has remained a traditional BJP stronghold. The opposition led by Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), however, has had its brief share of power on more than one occasion with the JMM patriarch Sibu Soren and his son Hemant Soren – currently the party’s executive head – serving as chief ministers of the state thrice and once respectively.

The JD(U) since its formation in 2003 had remained in the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) across states including Jharkhand, expect from June 2013 to August 2017, when the party switched to Rashtriya Janta Dal-led Grand Alliance (GA) in Bihar. The party, which had won six out of the 81 assembly seats in 2005, doesn’t have any presence in the state legislature as of now and its organisational strength has been fading with each passing year.

However, buoyed by its recent successes in the Lok Sabha polls when it won 16 out of the 17 seats it had contested in Bihar followed by the triumph in Arunachal Pradesh – where JD(U) went on to become the second largest party winning seven seats, the JD-U is now striving hard for Jharkhand assembly polls to build up on its push to become a strong national party.

“Nitish Kumar’s scheduled visit on Sunday has already set eye-balls rolling in Jharkhand’s political circles. The state badly needs Kumar’s model of development and we are confident that we will make a difference with or without any alliance in the coming polls,” said JD-U Jharkhand president and former BJP parliamentarian, Salkhan Murmu.

JD-U had contested the Lok Sabha polls in Bihar in alliance with BJP and also intends to contest the 2020 assembly polls under the NDA. However, during the recently held party’s executive committee meeting in Patna, the party leaders announced that outside Bihar they would go solo in all polls.

In Jharkhand, if JD(U) fails or refuses to bridge an alliance with any party, it would be pitted against a strong NDA – comprising BJP and All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) and a resolute Grand Alliance (GA) comprising JMM, Congress, Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik (JVM-P) and the left.

The party leaders, both in Patna and Ranchi, are unperturbed by the prevalent political combinations. Influenced from Rajya Sabha deputy speaker Harivansh in the state and backed by expertise of poll strategist Prashant Kishore, whose teams have been working clandestinely in all 24 districts for last six months, JD(U) leadership is confident of altering all the set poll equations.

“Our party vice-president, Prashant Kishore’s teams have done extensive ground work and have found out that there exists immense potential for JD(U) to make headway in the neighbouring state,” said a senior JD(U) leader requesting not to be quoted.

Though the party has announced to contest all 81 seats, it may scale down to 35 seats or even less after Kumar’s meeting with local leaders and office bearers, leaders, adding, they would field candidates in constituencies where they stand a chance to win or give a tough fight.

According to the insiders, the party would focus on constituencies with high Kurmi voters’ percentage. Several disgruntled Kurmi leaders associated with other parties are being lured to join JD(U).

Shailendra Mahato, vice-president of JD(U) unit in Jharkhand, said that among others, Kumar would be accompanied by Kishore, Member of Parliament Lallan Singh, Bihar welfare minister and Jharkhand in-charge Ram Sevak Singh and general secretary Arun Kumar Singh.

“Our national president would be in Gaya on August 24 where he would stay back overnight. Next morning after breakfast, he will leave for Ranchi by road and hold crucial meetings till 5 pm before he departs for Patna by the evening flight,” he said.

Nand Kishore Yadav, BJP’s Jharkhand co in-charge, said that JD(U)’s foray into Jharkhand assembly polls does not affect his party much as JD(U) has contested polls independently in several states. “Our alliance with them is only in Bihar. We do not have anything to do with their decisions,” he said.

Jharkhand’s industrialists’ banner reminder of industry SOS

Source: telegraphindia.com

Jharkhand’s industrialists are angry over what they say is the state’s insensitivity to a dire situation for businesses, and they plan to remind the Raghubar Das-led government about the harsh ground reality through hoardings at strategic locations, including in front of the chief minister’s residence in Ranchi.

The reality for businesses, the Federation of Jharkhand Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FJCCI) said at a news meet held in the state capital, was in stark contrast to expectations of industrial growth claimed during Momentum Jharkhand in 2017.

The FJCCI is the coordinating body for more than 10,000 industrial units operating across the state.

“The hopes generated during Momentum Jharkhand are completely dashed with industrialists fighting for survival and nearly 1,000 big and small industries downing shutters in the last few months due to the insensitivity of the state government,” FJCCI president Deepak Maroo said during the news meet held at Chamber Bhavan in Ranchi on Wednesday.

“We tried presenting our stands before every responsible persons including ministers, chief minister and bureaucrats but so far we have not received any solution to our woes and had no option but to display our sentiments through hoardings, beginning with a hoarding near the CM residence at Kanke,” he added.

The FJCCI hoardings will be put up at eight locations in Ranchi, and similar billboards will be sent to industries and trade bodies for display at strategic locations across all 24 districts.

“We would like nearly four-five such hoardings put up at strategic locations like near the district collectorate and near the residence and office of ministers and MLAs across the districts — to make them aware about the problems faced by us,” Maroo said.

The hoardings declare: “Vyapariyo ki marmik pukar — ab to sudh lo sarkar” (Poignant call of traders — at least remember us now, government).

They highlight problems faced due to frequent power cuts, complete failure of the single-window system of clearances for business, harassment of transporters by police officials, unhygienic condition and poor infrastructure in industrial areas, rising cases of theft and crime, and rampant licence raj and red tape.

“Industries in the last one year have suffered losses to the tune of Rs 1,000 crore due to poor policies of the government. The claims of hassle-free clearance through single-window system and ease of doing business is simply an eyewash. Momentum Jharkhand has failed to generate any revival for industries,” Maroo said.

During the Momentum Jharkhand 2017, nearly 210 MoUs were inked with Jharkhand government, promising investment of more than Rs 3 lakh crore.

FJCCI industry sub-committee chairman Ajay Bhandari blamed lack of coordination between the legislature and bureaucracy for the sorry state of affairs. FJCCI electricity sub-committee chairperson Vinod Tulsiyan criticised the government for allowing hike in power tariff from April this year despite no significant improvement in supply. This, he said, has led to economic

burden on industrialists and several ingots units have closed down.

Bus transport association official Arun Budhiya said that tax policies on the transport sector have resulted in heavy losses for transporters, specially those in the heavy vehicles segment.

“We want the government to talk to us and sort out our problems and this is the reason we have resorted to the hoarding campaign to draw their attention,” Maroo said. “If they do not relent, then we will have to go for mass agitation.”

After ‘triple talaq’, Jharkhand woman accuses husband of rape, forced conversion

Source: hindustantimes.com

A woman has lodged a police complaint in Ranchi alleging that she was duped into marriage by a man who allegedly coerced her into embracing Islam and eating beef, raped her for six years, administered her sedatives to get her to have sexual relations with others, video graphed the act and finally divorced her by way of triple talaq.

She has identified the accused as Sonu alias Md Abul Kaish.

Based on the woman’s complaint, the police have registered an FIR under Sections 376 (rape), 376 (2) (g) (gang rape), 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) and various other sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

“We have started the investigation. As per our information, the accused is not in Ranchi. However, we will find out the truth and appropriate legal action will be taken,” Ranchi SP (rural) Ashutosh Shekhar said.

The accused, who is in Delhi, however, denied the allegations when contacted on phone.

According to the FIR, the woman, a resident of Ranchi, had joined an NGO as a counsellor in June 2013 where she came in contact with the accused.

“Sonu always used to put tilak on his forehead. In August, when I was ill, Sonu came to my residence and took me to see a doctor. On return, he gave me some pill after which I became unconscious,” the woman has alleged in the FIR. “Two days later, I found myself naked at Sonu’s house in Ranchi. When I tried to escape, he showed me some videos in which I was in lying naked with some other man.”

“Threatening to make these videos public, he asked me to follow his commands. One day, he asked me to wear a burqa (veil) and took me to a Qazi at Ranchi’s Doranda area. The Qazi made me to accept what he uttered. He then told me I had become a Muslim and my ‘nikah’ was solemnised with Md Abul Kaish,” the woman has said in her complaint.

“I then realised that Sonu was not a Hindu and I was converted into a Muslim. He later forced me to eat beef. After losing his job in Ranchi, he took me to Delhi in August 2016. There, I experienced worst form of torture. He used to come with some other person every night to commit gang rape,” the complaint reads.

In May this year, the accused had gone somewhere else, leaving her alone in Delhi. “I then came to my village and after some days, I went to Sonu’s ancestral house in Rajmahal. There, his family members refused to accept me saying Sonu already had a legitimate wife from the same community,” the complaint says.

The woman alleged she finally traced Sonu in Ranchi but he refused to accept her. In fact, he divorced her by way of triple talaq on July 27, 2019, she alleged.

Sonu (37) said, “I am a lawyer in Delhi. Baseless allegations have been levelled against me. When I was working with the NGO in Ranchi, the woman was introduced to me along with her brother. Her bother and I developed a good bond. When I shifted to Delhi, he once visited me seeking some job. I helped him to find a job in a cloth factory. Later, he had taken a loan of Rs 3.75 lakh from me to open a cloth shop in Ranchi. When I demanded the money back, they started threatening me with lodging a false case.”

Sorceress kills woman with a trident in Jharkhand village

Source: newindianexpress.com

RANCHI: In an alleged case of practising illegal black magic, a sorceress allegedly killed a woman reportedly by stabbing her multiple times using a ‘Trishul’ (trident) to free her from the clutches of an evil spirit. 

The spine-chilling practice, which was conducted in the presence of the victim’s family, took place in Garhwa district of Jharkhand. 

The sorceress performed the ‘ritual’ inside a room while the woman’s family was waiting outside. They went inside on hearing her screams. 

Taking swift action, the police arrested the sorceress and her husband for killing the woman after the villagers informed about the incident.

“We have arrested the sorceress Alam Devi and her husband Satyendra Oraon immediately from their house in Sapahi village and an FIR has been lodged in this regard at Ramna Police Station. Sixty-year-old Rudni Devi was hit several times on her eyes, legs and stomach with a trident, who succumbed to her injuries on the spot on Saturday,” said officer-in-charge of Ramna Police Station Lal Bihari Rajak. 

The trident used for killing the lady has also been confiscated, he added.

Rajak said that multiple marks of stabbing have been found on the woman’s body while her eyes were gouged out and the nose was broken.

According to the family members, the woman was taken to the sorceress by them as she was ill for quite some time. Despite undergoing medical treatment, she failed to recover. They were told that an evil had taken possession of her body and hence they will have to stay there at her place in order to make her free from the spirit.

“We came here on August 14 from Bhawnathpur village, about 45 kilometers from here, and stayed at the sorceress’s residence as she performed black magic on her. All of a sudden on Saturday, she killed my mother by stabbing her several times on her body with a trident in the name of freeing her from the clutches of an evil spirit,” said Dinesh Oraon, victim’s son. 

“After hearing her screams, they entered the adjacent room where the sorceress was performing the black magic and saw her stabbing my mother with a trident. By the time we could understand anything, she was dead,” he added.

Inspired by AAP, Jharkhand govt starts Atal Mohalla Clinics across 17 districts

Source: indiatoday.in

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) may not see eye to eye but when it comes to policies, even the saffron party accepts and appreciates the ambitious health scheme of the Mohalla Clinics launched by the Arvind Kejriwal government in Delhi-NCR in 2015.

After Jammu and Kashmir, Telangana, and Karnataka, the Jharkhand government, too, adopted the concept of the Mohalla Clinics. The concept was launched by the Jharkhand government in a ceremony on August 16 on the first death anniversary of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The Mohalla Clinic in Jharkhand has been renamed as Atal clinic.

The government has launched 25 clinics in 17 districts across the state. Chief Minister Raghubar Das was visibly pleased and said that this is the best way to pay tribute and rich homage to the departed leader on his death anniversary.

The clinic, which has already started operating, will facilitate the patients with consultancy, diagnostic tests, and dispensary. “When we were at the centre, at least 26 patients received consultancy and they were happy,” one of the doctors said.

Principal Secretary of the health department, Nitin Kulkarni had earlier said that the features of the clinic are more or less similar to the Mohalla Clinics operating in Delhi-NCR. The only hurdle is fewer doctors in Jharkhand. Jharkhand has a ratio of one doctor per 10,000 patients. While the WHO vision 2020 demands one doctor per 1,000 patients.

Jharkhand school lessons on bolt safety

Source: telegraphindia.com

ightning, which kills over 130 people in Jharkhand on an average every year, will be a part of the academic curriculum in over 2,000 government schools from the next session.

A proposal by the disaster management department to include lightning and related safety parameters in the syllabus has been accepted by the state executive committee, which, led by chief secretary D.K. Tiwari, coordinates and monitoring its many initiatives.

“The executive committee will hold a final discussion, primarily the nitty-gritty, at its meeting soon. After that the chief secretary will issue formal guidelines,” said Manish Kumar Tiwari, joint secretary, home, prisons and disaster management.

Sources said the executive committee meeting would have senior bureaucrats of various departments, including principal secretary of school education and literacy A. P. Singh, who will be a special invitee since the proposal deals with his domain.

“The meeting is scheduled to discuss threadbare details like contents of the proposed chapter on lightning and the subject under which the chapter would be included for teaching in classes 8, 9 and 10. The subject will be introduced from the 2020-21 academic session,” said an official.

The state disaster management department will also be sending directives to deputy commissioners of all 24 districts, asking them to disseminate information on lightning safety during assembly in schools.

“Deputy commissioners of Bokaro and Hazaribagh have already started talking about the dos and don’ts on lightning safety during assembly at state-owned primary, middle and high schools. We would like other districts to do the same,” said Tiwari.

The state disaster management authority, which functions under the department, is planning to launch its own GPS-based software project to prevent casualties arising out of lightning strikes.

Officials said the software, designed by Jharkhand Agency for Promotion of Information Technology (JAPIT), aims to issue alerts to people in lightning-prone areas based on inputs from Ranchi Met office.

“The software will automatically send text messages to smart phones in the area (the phones need to switch on their location service) asking users to take precautionary measures. Our motto is to curb casualties. We are planning to roll it out on Independence Day,” Tiwari said.

Raghubar Das vows to make New Jharkhand

Source: telegraphindia.com

Chief minister Raghubar Das stressed his commitment to “New Jharkhand” after unfurling the Indian Tricolour at Morabadi grounds here on Thursday, the 73rd Independence Day.

Addressing around 5,000 people, including dignitaries, Das said: “Naya Jharkhand banana hai, yeh mera sankalp hai, yeh meri akansha hai (We have to make a New Jharkhand, that’s my promise and my dream).”

He urged people from all strata — farmers, workers, professionals, youths, craftspersons, mothers and sisters — to work for a happy and prosperous Jharkhand.

Das praised the Centre for removing Article 370 and 35A of the Constitution, and recalled late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s doctrine of Insaniyat, Jamhooriyat, Kashmiriyat (humanity, democracy and Kashmir’s legacy of amity).

But the bulk of his 30-minute speech was centred around the achievements of his government. This is the last Independence Day before Assembly polls later this year.

Das reeled off statistics to highlight how Jharkhand had grown under his governance. He said: “Growth rate in the last three years is 14.2 per cent and rate of increasing per capita income is 9.1 per cent. During the last five years growth in forestry has been 31.2 per cent, fisheries 15.9 per cent, and agriculture 19 per cent.”

He added: “Jharkhand is the first state to give Rs 5,000 per acre as grant to farmers and Rs 3,000 per month as pension to labourers of the unorganised sector. From next month, the government will start a pension for journalists.”

“So far, 2 lakh people have been helped by the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (Ayushman Bharat) in the state under which 57 lakh of 68 lakh families are covered. The government aims to give gold cards to all beneficiaries of this scheme by September 25. This apart, 100 mohalla clinics will be opened by September 25 for the urban poor.”

He spoke about big strides made in higher education, including new medical colleges in Dumka, Palamau and Hazaribagh, women’s colleges in 12 district, model colleges in 13 districts and 27 degree colleges and 13 polytechnic colleges.

Das also inspected the Independence Day parade in which platoons of the CRPF, CISF, Jharkhand Jaguar, JAP, NCC, Jharkhand Home Guard and Raksha Shakti Vishawvidyalaya participated.

Cops felicitated

In Jamshedpur, food minister Saryu Roy, who hoisted the national flag at Gopal Maidan, also felicitated Parsudih OC Animesh Gupta and Azadnagar OC Vishnu Rout for their good work. In Ranchi, SSP Anish Gupta gave a cash award of Rs 15,000 to Chutia OC Ravi Thakur for nabbing three snatchers wanted in 30 cases.

Jharkhand villagers shun online PDS scheme due to network issues

Source: nationalheraldindia.com

The online Public Distribution System (PDS) in Jharkhand has become a headache for many, especially for those living in far-flung areas where network issues persist.

To check corruption in the PDS scheme, an online process was introduced in the state whereby the beneficiaries have to put their thumb impression on the machine kept at the ration shop to get the foodgrains under the scheme.

But, the machine operates on a network, and clear weather is a must for the machine to catch signals. Hence, ration is denied to the people on several occasions.

In Tilma village of Khunti district, Kariya Munda and other villagers often spend their day at the ration shop waiting for the network so that they can get their foodgrains.

“Every day, my son asks when will they get lunch or dinner to which I reply that unless the network is accessed, they cannot get proper food,” Kariya said.

Not only in Khunti, but other parts of the state are also suffering due to poor network. In Dumka and Chaibaasa, people have to even climb tress to get the network. The network doesn’t catch sometimes due to heavy rains, sometimes when the server is down or for other issues.

Ration dealer Sunita Purty said “unless the thumb impression is made, the ration cannot be given. The online system prevents ration distribution without thumb impression”.

For the last few days, the villagers are making rounds for getting foodgrains from the PDS shops. They can be seen roaming along the roads with the machine and antenna, in search of network. Many times their efforts fail following which the ration is denied.

An angry villager said the manual system was better as there is no improvement in the online system and their children are suffering.

Women said they had to leave behind their farm work to come to the ration shops where they have to wait for long hours.

Jharkhand: Farmer’s jugaad turns scooter into plough

Source: dnaindia.com

A farmer from of Hazaribagh district of Jharkhand has built a plough with ‘jugaad’ technology.

This equipment made with the help of the engine of a discarded scooter is making a splash in the whole area.

Located 40 kilometres from Hazaribagh, Unchaghana village of Tathizharia area is now the talk of the town as one man’s resolve to overcome his problems through homemade, self-thought technology invited praises and admiration.

People from the district often migrate for jobs due to lack of opportunities here, and Mahesh Karmali was no exception. He went to Chennai to earn a living in a Bajaj workshop.

However, Karmali had to return home as he couldn’t secure a permanent job in metropolis for not having a high school certificate. Though he owns farmland, he had no plough or bulls to till the land. He couldn’t afford to buy those for more than Rs 50,000.

A tractor was beyond his dreams and after a long thought, Karmali decided to make a plough for tilling all by himself. He bought a second-hand scooter from a friend and improvised it to a plough for nearly Rs 6,000.

His wife is very happy with his success and says that now it is very easy to do farming. “For less money, the entire farm gets tilled and time is also saved. I’m able to give more time to my children and household.”

Karmali’s innovation has caught the attention of farmers from many villages and they are coming to see this plough with some also willing to buy. They are driven by the cost advantage of the plough over tractor or bulls and the work efficiency of the device.

Karmali’s innovation can be beneficial for the hilly regions of the state and can be a boon for farmers if such techniques are supported and promoted by the government.