Unani doctors demand better recognition

Chennai: TIMES NEWS NETWORK





Demanding that the state plug the vacuum between education and employment opportunities in Unani medicine, nearly 150 Unani practitioners gathered at the Government Unani Medical College at Arumbakkam on Monday to stage a protest.

 

The protest was initiated by the Southern Unani Medical Association, which laid out various demands, the most pivotal of which was giving better recognition to the practice. They alleged that unlike college graduates of other natural medicine courses like Siddha, students of Unani did not have the option of pursuing a master's degree in any government institution in Tamil Nadu.

“It has been 40 years since the Unani course was established here. But till date, there is no PG degree or sufficient avenues for employment in government medical establishments. We are seeing a lot of developments in our field lately, and the demand has increased among the middle class and upper middle class demography who are trying natural medicine options.But if it has to reach all strata of society , the government should ensure that Unani practitioners are hired in government establishments as well,“ said D Shahjahan, general secretary of the association, adding that every Taluk hospital in the state should hire Unani practitioners. They also demanded that for representation to the state government, an officer in the capacity of a joint director should be appointed.
The protesters, who were all alumni of the Government Unani college in the city, sent a draft of their demands to health secretary J Radhakrishnan, health minister C Vijayabaskar and chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami.





Jul 04 2017 : The Times of India (Chennai)

`Postpone medical counselling till Prez decision on state bill'

Chennai:    TIMES NEWS NETWORK





The State Platform for Common School System in Tamil Nadu (SPCSS) on Monday demanded the postponement of the Tamil Nadu medical counselling until there is clarity over the President's response to the bills passed by the Tamil Nadu assembly, and the reservation policy to be adopted in the all India medical counselling. The medical counselling in TN has been slated for July 17.

 

The state legislative assembly had passed the Tamil Nadu Admission to MBBS and BDS Courses Act 2017 and the Tamil Nadu Admission to Postgraduate Courses in Medicine and Dentistry Act 2017 unanimously and they were sent for presidential assent in February this year. The SPCSS along with TN Students-Parents Welfare Association and Health Development Association, Chennai, held a press meet at the ICSA Centre, Egmore, to voice their demands.

“We don't want the government to proceed with the counselling until we receive a reply from the President ­ whether the bills receive the nod or are rejected is up to the President, but we need an answer before going ahead with the counselling,“ said Prince Gajendra Babu, secretary of the SPCSS.

Another issue raised was the ambiguity over the reservation policy under the all-India quota counselling. Instead of the term `open competition', the term `unreserved category' has been used. Anybody can be allotted seats under open competition regardless of category and based purely on merit. After filling the open competition seats, the reserved category seats are filled, explained members. However, when the term `unreserved category' is used, it is associated with the idea that only those outside the reserved categories may participate.





Med aspirants to send photo holding placard

Pushpa Narayan

Chennai:





Students seeking MBBSBDS admissions in Tamil Nadu this academic year cannot sign over a passportsize photograph with an application. A photograph of the candidate holding a placard containing hisher name and the date it was taken should be affixed to it, the selection committee in-charge of single counseling has declared.

 

The prospectus issued by the directorate of medical education in all government medical colleges and on http:www.tnhealth.org says two identical passport size photos with light background (no Polaroids) taken after April 1, 2017, should be pasted on the OMR sheet and application.

“Photographs must be taken with a placard indicating the name of the candidate (as in the application) and date of taking the photograph. In case the name and date are written on the photo graph after taking it, the application will be rejected... If the photograph is not a recent one taken at the time of submitting the application, the application will be rejected,“ it says. The photograph on the application should be attested by a gazetted officer headmasterheadmistress with a clear stamp.
Directorate of medical education officials said they were forced to make such a requirement mandatory after officials involved in single window counselling complained that many students looked different in the photographs submitted. “Many submitted pictures that are up to three or four years old.As they grow, students tend to look different. Officials are forced to look for other documents to get the photo validated. We have also asked for an attestation this time,“ said director of medical education Dr A Edwin Joe.

While most students complain they felt humiliated and felt like criminals, parents said they had a tough time as applications were out of stock for more than four days. “We were then told we can take a printout of the forms. We thought we had everything ready until we read the prospectus online. In one of the annexures, they mentioned instructions for a photograph.We are rushing now,“ said R Satyanarayana, parent of an MBBS aspirant. The last date for submitting applications is on or before July 8.

University sets `safety deadline' for women

Lucknow: TNN





The vice-chancellor (VC) of a Central University in Lucknow issued an order on Monday , asking the women staff on campus not to work out of their offices beyond 6 pm. R C Sobti, the VC of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University (BBAU) said the order (a copy of which is with TOI) was to ensure the safety of women, including administration staff and faculty members. It further stated that women will have to seek prior permission from the VC if they want to stay in their offices beyond the stipulated time.

According to university spokesperson Govind Pandey , the move is aimed at protecting women from increasing harassment cases.“In recent times, there have been a number of incidents in which women are at the receiving end and it is to avoid any untoward incidents that the vice-chancellor has asked women employees not to stay in office beyond 6pm,“ Pandey said. The diktat's term has been criticised by the university's women employees, who claimed it was an attempt to restrict their freedom.

Some staff members criticised the move as it would hinder them in discharging their duties. “The university has two doctors, one male and one female, who on rotation basis do the night shift after 8pm. The order means woman officer will not report to work because she has a night shift every alternate day and won't that hamper healthcare services,“ said an employee.

Medical education quite affordable in Karnataka

Bengaluru TIMES NEWS NETWORK





For a domiciled student in Karnataka, studying in a private medical or dental college may not be such a costly affair compared to Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra or Kerala. A look at the fee structures in medical institutions across these states reveals that Karnataka has some of the most affordable fee structures.

 

The state follows a unique three-stage categorization for medical and dental admissions. While 40% of seats in private medical colleges are reserved for Karnataka students domiciled in the state for seven years or more under the state government quota, another 40% of seats are reserved for students from across India under what is known as all-India or non-Karnataka quota. The remaining 20% seats are for NRI students and institutional preferences.

The Karnataka government also favours domiciled students and charges them `77,000 as annual fee for MBBS and `49,000 for Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS). In comparison, a government quota seat for students of and outside Maharashtra in Mumbai's KJ Somaiya Medical College costs a whopping `9.25 lakh per annum. The fee is decided by the Shikshan Shulka Samiti, based on expenses incurred by colleges which submit their yearly ac counts to the panel. In Tamil Nadu gov ernment quota seats can go up to`4 lakh for MBBS and`2.5 lakh for BDS. In Kera la, on the other hand, an all-India merit seat costs `5.5 lakh and for BDS, one pays `2.5 lakh. In Telangana, however, a government quota seat fee is lesser than that in Karnataka. A student can get a seat under the government quota on merit at `60,000. The state also follows a revision of fee every three years and the fee structure is fixed by the Telangana State Admission and Fee Regulatory Committee constituted by the state government.

You can't turn genuine money into trash: SC





The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought to prevail on the Centre to open a fresh window for exchange of scrapped `500 and `1,000 notes for persons who missed the December 30 deadline if they could establish that the money was theirs and they had a genuine reason for not changing it. The court was a step away from ensuring an exchange opportunity when the Centre sought two weeks to respond to the suggestion. The court's previous inquiries had so far failed to move the Centre.

The government, through solicitor general Ranjit Kumar, relied on data about misuse of exchange of old currency provisions to explain its reluctance to heed the court's hints, even though PM Narendra Modi had on November 8 said those with genuine difficulties could expect a window after the year-end deadline.


But the court's argument that genuine cases should not be punished by turning hard earned money into trash saw the SG seeking time. “It will not be a general window but on a case to case basis. Give me two weeks, I will take instructions from the government,“ he said.

Scores of petitions were filed in the SC accusing the government of reneging on the promise and seeking relief to exchange scrapped currency notes. The SC had weeded out a majority of them, terming reasons for failure to meet the December 31 deadline as “cock and bull story“. However, 10 petitions survived the SC's stringent scrutiny and on Tuesday , the court sought Kumar's response. When the SG reiterated the Centre's consistent stand, a bench of Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justice D Y Chandrachud said, “It is our duty to caution you. If a person is alone and suffered grave illness during the November 9 to December 30 period, it becomes absolutely impossible for him to deposit his old currency notes. If he can prove that it is his hard earned money and not somebody else's, he would surely require the window you had promised.

“We ourselves (the bench) have rejected many petitions as we found their reasons not genuine. But those with genuine difficulty must have a chance to convince the authorities. If you do not agree to open a window, then we will say it is open for such persons who can prove genuineness of their money and difficulty to deposit within December 30 deadline to seek relief from the government. He should have an opportunity to explain and replace the old money . You cannot turn his genuine money into trash.“

The bench said the government must sort this out. “We have seen cases where a person has lost his genuine money for no fault of his. The government cannot trash aperson's genuine money . You (the government) cannot render a person's genuine money go waste like this,“ it said. On March 21, the SC had told the government, “You must understand that these people are in dire straits. If they cannot establish the genuineness of the delay in depositing the scrapped currency , they would be liable for prosecution. The PM's speech as well as the notification that followed immediately after had promised to provide a window to people in such difficulty . But the ordinance did not provide any window except for NRIs and those Indians who were travelling abroad at that time. These people hoped that they will get another chance but the ordinance issued on the last day of deadline on December 31 suddenly closed that window. Everyone heard the PM and believed that the PM's words cannot be taken back.“

`TEMPORARY BASIS' - HC seeks report on appointment of law officers in Virudhunagar

Madurai: TIMES NEWS NETWORK





The Madurai bench of the Madras high court on Tuesday directed the government to file records pertaining to the appointment of law officers to courts in Virudhunagar district. A division bench headed by justice K K Sasidharan gave the direction on a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by advocate S Ramasubramanian from Rajapalayam in Virudhunagar. The petitioner's counsel told the court that the additional chief secretary passed a government order (GO) on May 25 appointing 15 advocates as law officers to the courts in the Virudhunagar district.

The government made the appointments without following mandatory procedure contemplated under the criminal procedure code.The government's action will affect the justice delivery system. Hence, it was necessary to stay all the proceedings based on the GO and quash the same, the counsel said.

Senior counsel appearing for one of the advocates appointed as public prosecutor said the appointments were made temporarily . The government already started the process of appointing law officers a few months ago. Based on it, the collector of Virudhunagar issued notification inviting applications from the legal fraternity. If the appointments were stayed, there would be vacancies for law officers' posts, he said.

The additional advocate general also said the appointments were a temporary measure and advocates appointed were eligible people to be appointed as law officers.

The division bench said that if it (government) had taken action properly , it would have made permanent appointments by this time.