AIIMS to resume normal services

AIIMS to resume normal services

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bhopal: 15.01.2021

After curtailment of hospital services during the pandemic, AIIMS Bhopal has decided to resume all services as normal, said institute director, Dr Sarman Singh. Critical care Covid-19 treatment will continue in the hospital.

When the pandemic hit the city in March, the hospital was optimised to make available inpatient beds for hospitalisation of seriously-ill Covid-19 patients. “AIIMS Delhi has resumed regular services. We are doing the same,” said Dr Singh.

The resumption of normal services would come as a relief for many, as several interventions have been deferred during the pandemic. “We have performed extremely well in caring for Covid-19 patients. Other hospital services have been on-going in a limited way. It would be further regularised. Online services and appointments would soon be revoked. Non-Covid-19 services would be enhanced,” said AIIMS hospital, medical superintendent, Dr Manisha Shrivastava.

Around 3,000 critical Covid-19 patients have been treated at the hospital. Without regular services on offer during the pandemic, the hospital has been catering to an OPD of more than 1,000 patients. It is now expected to touch 2,500 OPD cases per day. Surgical services for other ailments are also returning to normal. As for Covid-19 services, 40 ICU beds have been reserved . It would include paediatric age Covid-19 care. Besides, 90 general beds would be for general Covid-19 patients. Asymptomatic and those Covid-19 patients who are not in need for oxygen support would be referred to other care centres.

AIIMS helpdesk

An information helpdesk for patients admitted to AIIMS Bhopal has been initiated. It is a public friendly initiative to inform, assist and guide the relatives of admitted patients in Covid as well non-Covid wards and ICUs of the hospital. This desk will function round-the-clock. It will serve as a nodal centre for communication and coordination of information regarding patient care services between departments, patient care areas, patients’ attendants /relatives and the administration. The desk helpline numbers are (0755) 2982607, 2985569.

NBE accused of ‘back-door entry’ for select students

NBE accused of ‘back-door entry’ for select students

‘Institutions Lose Accreditation And Candidates Are Relocated’

Rema.Nagarajan@timesgroup.com

15.01.2021

How does a candidate for DNB (a post graduate medical degree) ranked around 34,600 in the entrance exam get allotted a high-demand specialty like radio diagnosis in a highly regarded institution? How does one ranked around 15,000 get into an institution which usually gets filled around rank 5,000? It is through an opaque process where candidates allotted to institutions that lose accreditation are ‘relocated’ to those where seats are still vacant. Candidates have accused the National Board of Examination (NBE) of facilitating such ‘back-door entry’ for select candidates.

Every year, the NBE, which regulates post graduate courses in various medical specialties, mostly in private hospitals, allots candidates to hospitals according to their preference and ranking in the entrance exam. However, the board often withdraws accreditation of entire hospitals or of seats in a few specialties after allotment, leaving hundreds of students in the lurch. In most such cases, complaints about the hospitals that lose accreditation would have been made months or even years back, but NBE not only includes the seats in these hospitals in the counselling process, it even allots students to them only to later cancel accreditation.

Take the case of two students ranked in the range of 35,000 and allotted transfusion medicine in Nayati hospital in Mathura. The accreddiation for Nayati was later cancelled and they were relocated to other hospitals for specialities like radio diagnosis and ophthalmology, both much more sought after. “How did they get to change their specialty? How come the seats they were given were never openly available for the mop-up counselling? There is zero transparency on how relocation is done and nothing is put in the public domain,” said a candidate still awaiting relocation months after accreditation was cancelled.

The roulette of relocation can also work against you. In one such case, a candidate with rank around 15,000 was allotted general medicine in Amaltas Medical College in Madhya Pradesh in August last year. On November 6, NBE withdrew accreditation and offered a general medicine seat in a 200-bed hospital in Hyderabad. “I had chosen a medical college because according to the regulations, if I do DNB from a medical college or a hospital with over 500 beds, I don’t need to do an extra year of senior residency to have equivalence with MD/MS. Now I am being allocated to a 200-bed hospital, which means I will have to do an extra year. I have filed a case, but it is a huge financial loss to fight a case and mental harassment on top of it,” said the candidate.

Candidates from an earlier batch allocated to Amaltas had complained to NBE about the institution over a year back. Yet, NBE included Amaltas’ seats in the 2020 counselling with no indication of the complaints or the fact that it was under the scanner and allocated students there, and then went on to cancel its accreditation.

In another case, a student with rank around 16,500 was allocated emergency medicine in Columbia Asia Hospital in Bangalore. The candidate had chosen Bangalore as her husband was working in Bangalore. She joined the hospital on August 26. The NBE conducted an inspection on September 10 and the accreditation for emergency medicine seats was cancelled by October end. “I was offered a seat in a 200-bed hospital in Ahmedabad and another in Delhi which were at the level of rank 22,000 or less. I was also told that if I did not join the allotted seat I would be debarred from DNB for three years,” said the candidate.

Every year, accreditation of seats in over a dozen hospitals is withdrawn because they fail to maintain academic standards or to pay regular stipend. In 2020, for instance, about 100 students had to be relocated as accreditation for all DNB courses in hospitals like Aditya Birla Hospital in Pune, Nayati, Amaltas and CMRI, Kolkata were shut down, while accreditation to specific courses in hospitals like Columbia Asia and Global Hospital, Pune was withdrawn.

“NBE does not put out inspection reports of hospitals. There is no public record of complaints received against hospitals and no date of accreditation. How can students make an informed choice about which hospital to join? Why is NBE not taking responsibility for accrediting substandard institutions and then cancelling accreditation and playing with the lives of hundreds of students?” asked a former office bearer of the Association of DNB Doctors.

NBE did not respond to TOI’s queries on the issue despite several reminders.

Every year, accreditation of seats in over a dozen hospitals is withdrawn because they fail to maintain academic standards or to pay regular stipend

Wrong sex, missing surname: Travellers get refund

CONSUMER IS KING

Wrong sex, missing surname: Travellers get refund

Petlee.Peter@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru:15.01.2021

Two Bengalureans who approached a consumer court with separate complaints against two travel firms have won refund and compensation.

In the first case, a woman sued a travel agency for getting a Singaporean visa issued to her with her sex printed as male, which spoilt her plans. The second complaint was against a ticketing website for not letting a man enter his family members’ surname, resulting in cancellation of tickets.

Bharathi T of Sringar in Bengaluru was excited about the trip she had planned to Singapore, Malyasia and Thailand in mid-2017. She contacted Soonangi Travel & Tours Private Limited in Jai Bharath Nagar and paid a total of Rs 96,000 towards the trip expenses and visa procedures. Her Singapore visa arrived a few days later; it mentioned her sex as male. She immediately informed the agency representatives about the error and was promised the issue would be rectified before her scheduled travel date.

But till the last minute, Soonangi Travel representatives failed to get Bharathi an amended visa, resulting in the 45-year-old having to drop her travel plans. She demanded a refund from the agency, which only agreed to repay Rs 32,000. The infuriated Bengalurean sent a legal notice to the agency and approached the Bangalore 2nd additional urban district consumer disputes redressal forum on January 5, 2018 with a complaint against it.

At the end of proceedings that lasted over 34 months, the judges heavily criticised the travel agency for upsetting the complainant’s travel plans. The court pointed out the attempt to offer the complainant Rs 32,000 instead of a full refund itself showed something was amiss. It was clear that the first leg of the journey was to Singapore and Bharathi couldn’t take the trip as her visa showed her sex as male, which the travel agency didn’t bother to rectify despite being contacted by the complainant, the judges said.

In their verdict pronounced on November 25, 2020, the judges ordered that Soonangi pay the customer a full refund of Rs 96,000 with interest, apart from Rs 10,000 as compensation and Rs 5,000 towards her litigation expenses.

The same court heard a complaint filed by BK Ravi Shankar, 52, an insurance company manager, against Make My Trip India Private Limited, in which he stated the ticketing portal didn’t allow him to enter full names of four of his family members. As a result, Shankar was forced to cancel all the return tickets from Bengaluru to Port Blair — which he had booked by spending nearly Rs 1.3 lakh — for January 2017.

As per the rules, the firm refunded Rs 18,041, but allegedly withheld Rs 38,643, which Shankar claimed it was legally bound to repay.

After three years and six months of proceedings, the consumer court ruled in favour of the complainant on December 14, 2020 and ordered Make My Trip to refund him Rs 28,423 and pay him Rs 3,000 towards litigation expenses.

In the first case, a woman sued a travel agency for getting a Singaporean visa issued to her with her sex printed as male. The second complainant was forced to cancel tickets after he couldn’t enter his family members’ surname on a ticketing website

Publication of notice of marriage not mandatory’

Publication of notice of marriage not mandatory’

14/01/2021

Omar Rashid Lucknow

The Allahabad High Court has ruled that the provision of publication of notice of intended marriage under the Special Marriage Act, 1954, is not mandatory.

The court, in a significant judgment delivered on January 12, said making such publication mandatory “would invade the fundamental rights of liberty and privacy, including within its sphere the freedom to choose for marriage without interference from state and non-state actors, of the persons concerned”.

A Bench of Justice Vivek Chaudhary mandated that while giving notice under Section 5 of the Act, it shall be optional for the parties to the intended marriage to make a request in writing to the marriage officer to publish or not to publish a notice under Section 6 and follow the procedure of objections as prescribed under the Act.

In case the parties do not make such a request, the officer “shall not publish any such notice or entertain objections to the intended marriage and proceed with the solemnisation of the marriage”.

நீட் மதிப்பெண் வேறுபாட்டை எதிர்த்து வழக்கு: மாணவரைக் கல்லூரியில் சேர்க்க உயர் நீதிமன்றம் உத்தரவு

நீட் மதிப்பெண் வேறுபாட்டை எதிர்த்து வழக்கு: மாணவரைக் கல்லூரியில் சேர்க்க உயர் நீதிமன்றம் உத்தரவு

case-against-neet-score-difference-high-court-order-to-admit-student-to-college

நீட் மதிப்பெண் முதலில் 594 ஆகவும், 12 நாளில் 248 ஆகவும் இரு வேறாக தவறாக வெளியானதாக பாதிக்கப்பட்ட மாணவர் தொடர்ந்த வழக்கில், அவருக்கு மருத்துவப் படிப்பில் இடம் வழங்க நீதிபதி உத்தரவிட்டார். மாணவரின் தகவல் தவறாக இருந்தால் படிப்பைக் கைவிட வேண்டி இருக்கும், சட்ட விளைவுகளைச் சந்திக்க வேண்டி இருக்கும் என நீதிபதி எச்சரித்துள்ளார்.

கடந்த ஆண்டின் நீட் தேர்வு விடைத்தாள்களை தேசிய தேர்வு முகமை கடந்த அக்டோபர் 5-ம் தேதி வெளியிட்டபோது, கோவையைச் சேர்ந்த மனோஜ் என்ற மாணவர் 700க்கு 594 மதிப்பெண்கள் பெற்றதாகப் பதிவாகி இருந்தது. இந்நிலையில், அக்டோபர் 17-ம் தேதி 248 மதிப்பெண்கள் மட்டுமே அம்மாணவர் பெற்றதாக இணையதளத்தில் பதிவேற்றம் செய்யப்பட்டதாகக் கூறப்படுகிறது.

இரு பட்டியலையும் ஸ்கிரீன் ஷாட் எடுத்த மாணவர் மனோஜ், தனக்கு மதிப்பெண்கள் குறைத்து வழங்கப்பட்டதை எதிர்த்து சென்னை உயர் நீதிமன்றத்தில் வழக்குத் தொடர்ந்தார். அந்த வழக்கை விசாரித்த உயர் நீதிமன்றம், மனுதாரர் சமர்ப்பித்த தரவுகளை அடிப்படையாகக் கொண்டு விரிவாக விசாரணை நடத்தி அறிக்கை தாக்கல் செய்ய தேசிய தேர்வு முகமைக்கு உத்தரவிட்டிருந்தது.

இந்த வழக்கு நீதிபதி பி.புகழேந்தி முன்பு மீண்டும் விசாரணைக்கு வந்தது. கூடுதல் மதிப்பெண் பெற்றதாக மாணவர் தாக்கல் செய்த மதிப்பெண் சான்றின் ஸ்கிரீன் ஷாட் திரிக்கப்பட்டது என்றும், 248 மதிப்பெண்கள் மட்டுமே பெற்றுள்ளதாகவும் தேசிய தேர்வு முகமை தரப்பில் தெரிவிக்கப்பட்டது.

அதேசமயம், உண்மையைக் கண்டறிய விசாரணை தேவை என்றும், தன் மீது தவறு இருந்தால் சட்ட பின்விளைவுகளைச் சந்திக்கத் தயாராக இருப்பதாகவும் மனுதாரர் தரப்பில் உத்தரவாதம் அளிக்கப்பட்டது.

கலந்தாய்வு அமைப்பு தரப்பில், மனுதாரருக்கு ஏற்கெனவே தூத்துக்குடி மருத்துவக் கல்லூரியில் இடம் ஒதுக்கீடு செய்யப்பட்டு, வழக்கு நிலுவை காரணமாக சேர்க்கை வழங்கப்படவில்லை எனத் தெரிவிக்கப்பட்டது.

னைத்துத் தரப்பு வாதங்களையும் கேட்ட நீதிபதி, மனுதாரருக்கு மாணவர் சேர்க்கை வழங்க உத்தரவிட்டார்.

இந்த விவகாரத்தில் சுதந்திரமான ஒரு அமைப்பைக் கொண்டு விசாரிப்பது குறித்து ஜனவரி 21-ம் தேதி முடிவெடுக்கப்படும் எனத் தெரிவித்த நீதிபதி, மனுதாரர் முறைகேட்டில் ஈடுபட்டது தெரியவந்தால் படிப்பைக் கைவிட வேண்டும் என்றும், அதற்கான கட்டணத்தைச் செலுத்த வேண்டுமெனவும், மாணவர் மட்டுமல்லாமல் அவரது பெற்றோரும் சட்ட விளைவுகளைச் சந்திக்க நேரிடும் எனவும் குறிப்பிட்டு, விசாரணையை ஜனவரி 21-ம் தேதிக்குத் தள்ளிவைத்தார்.

 அகில இந்திய துப்பாக்கிச் சுடும் போட்டியில் மதுரை மருத்துவ மாணவி முதலிடம்

madurai-medico-bags-title-in-national-level-shooting-championship

அகில இந்திய துப்பாக்கிச் சுடும் போட்டியில் மதுரையைச் சேர்ந்த மருத்துவ மாணவி முதலிடம் பெற்றுள்ளார்.

மதுரை சர்வேயர் காலனியைச் சேர்ந்த மாணவி சி.கவி ரக்ஷனா. இவர், சிவகங்கை அரசு மருத்துவக் கல்லூரியில் இரண்டாம் ஆண்டு படிக்கிறார்.

அண்மையில், டெல்லியில் நடந்த அகில இந்திய பெண்கள் 10 மீட்டர் ஏர் ரைஃபிளில், அகில இந்திய அளவில் முதலிடம் பிடித்து சாதனை படைத்துள்ளார்.

காமன்வெல்த் போட்டியில் தங்கப்பதக்கம் வென்ற இளவேனில் என்ற பெண்ணை (குஜராத்துக்காக விளையாடுகிறார்) மூன்றாம் இடம் தள்ளி முதலிடம் பெற்றுள்ளார்.

கவி ரக்ஷனாவிடம் தோல்வியடைந்த இளவேனிக்கு குஜராத் அரசு ஆண்டிற்கு பத்து லட்சம் நிதியுதவி, தனிப்பட்ட இரண்டு பயிற்சியாளர்களை வழங்கி ஊக்கவித்து வருகிறது.

ஆனால், அரசு மற்றும் தனியாரின் எந்த ஸ்பான்சர் உதவியும் இல்லாமல் கடந்த ஐந்து ஆண்டுகளாக மதுரைக்காகவும், தமிழகத்திற்காகவும் கவி ரக்ஷனா பல்வேறு போட்டிகளில் பங்கேற்று பரிசுகளையும், சிறப்பிடங்களையும் பெற்றுள்ளார்.

தற்போது தேசிய அளவில் முதலிடமும் பெற்றுள்ளார். ஆனாலும் தமிழக அரசின் விளையாட்டுத் துறை இவரை இதுவரை அங்கீகாரம் செய்யவில்லை. எனவே தனது மகள் கவி ரக்ஷனாவுக்கு உதவ வேண்டும் என்று தந்தை டாக்டர் சக்கரவர்த்தி வேண்டுகோள் விடுத்துள்ளார்.

கலப்பு திருமணங்கள் தொடர்பாக நோட்டீஸ் ஒட்ட தேவையில்லை - அலகாபாத் ஐகோர்ட்

கலப்பு திருமணங்கள் தொடர்பாக நோட்டீஸ் ஒட்ட தேவையில்லை - அலகாபாத் ஐகோர்ட்

Updated : ஜன 14, 2021 07:14 |

லக்னோ: கலப்பு திருமணங்கள் செய்யும் ஜோடிகள் பற்றிய தகவல்களை பதிவு அலுவலகங்களில் அறிவிப்பு செய்ய வேண்டியது கட்டாயம் என விதி இருக்கும் நிலையில், அது அடிப்படை உரிமைகளுக்கு எதிரானது என்று அலகாபாத் உயர் நீதிமன்றம் தீர்ப்பளித்துள்ளது.

சிறப்பு திருமணங்கள் சட்டம் 1954-ன் படி கலப்பு திருமணங்கள் செய்பவர்கள் மாவட்ட திருமண அதிகாரிக்கு எழுத்துப்பூர்வமாக அறிவிப்பு வழங்க வேண்டும். அவர் அதன் நகலை அறிவிப்பு பலகையில் பொது மக்கள் பார்வையில் படும்படி ஒட்டுவார். திருமணம் செய்பவர்களின் சொந்த மாவட்ட அலுவலகத்திலும் இந்த அறிவிப்பு ஒட்டப்பட வேண்டும். சம்பந்தப்பட்டவர்களின் திருமணம் வயது, மனநிலை போன்ற விதிகளை மீறியிருந்தால் 30 நாட்களுக்குள் ஆட்சேபனை தெரிவிக்கலாம்.

இந்நிலையில் உத்தர பிரதேசத்தை சேர்ந்த முஸ்லிம் பெண் ஒருவர் இந்து ஆணை திருமண செய்வதற்காக இந்து மதத்திற்கு மாறினார். ஆனால் அப்பெண்ணின் தந்தை திருமணம் தொடர்பாக பிரச்னை செய்துள்ளார். எனவே அப்பெண் நீதிமன்றத்தை நாடியுள்ளார். மனுவில், சிறப்பு திருமண சட்டம் மூலம் எங்கள் திருமணத்தை உறுதிப்படுத்தியிருக்கலாம். ஆனால் அதற்கு 30 நாட்கள் அறிவிப்பு தேவைப்படுகிறது. அதன் மூலம் பெருமளவு ஆட்சேபனை உண்டாகும் என குறிப்பிட்டுள்ளார்.

இதனை விசாரித்த அலகாபாத் உயர் நீதிமன்ற நீதிபதி விவேக் சவுதிரி ஒரு அதிரடி தீர்ப்பு வழங்கியுள்ளார். அதில், “இது போன்று அறிவிப்பு வெளியிடுவது அடிப்படை உரிமைகளான சுதந்திரம் மற்றும் தனியுரிமை ஆகியவற்றின் மீது படையெடுப்பதாகும். மேலும் அது யாருடைய குறுக்கீடும் இல்லாமல் திருமணத்தைத் தேர்ந்தெடுப்பதற்கான, தம்பதியினரின் சுதந்திரத்தையும் பாதிக்கும். எனவே கலப்பு திருமணம் செய்பவர்கள் அறிவிப்பை வெளியிடலாம் அல்லது வெளியிடக்கூடாது என்று எழுத்துப்பூர்வமாக திருமண அதிகாரிக்கு கோரிக்கை வைக்க முடியும்.” என்று கூறியுள்ளார்.

30-day notice for interfaith marriage optional, says HC

30-day notice for interfaith marriage optional, says HC

‘Violates Right To Privacy And Liberty’

Ravi Singh Sisodiya TNN

Lucknow: 14.01.2021

The Allahabad high court’s Lucknow bench has ruled that it should be optional rather than mandatory for an interfaith couple to give 30 days’ prior notice to a marriage officer to register their wedding under the Special Marriage Act, 1954. Enforcing a notice period on the couple is tantamount to intruding on their fundamental right to privacy and liberty, it said.

“If the couple doesn’t want to go for publication of the 30-day notice, the marriage officer has to solemnise their wedding forthwith,” Justice Vivek Chaudhary said while disposing of a habeas corpus petition filed by a Hindu man married to a woman who was born Muslim but converted before the wedding.

Petitioner Abhisekh Kumar Pandey alleged that his wife, Sufia Sultana, was being held captive by her father because she converted and got married according to Hindu rituals.

With conversion plea pending, man moves HC

A 32-year-old Hindu man wanting to convert to Islam has moved the Gujarat HC for redress after being kept waiting over a year for nod to change his religion, reports Saeed Khan. Jignesh Patel, a marketing executive, said the collector had withheld nod for him to be a Muslim despite an “inquiry” cleared him. P 18

‘Law must keep evolving with time’

Justice Chaudhary based his judgment on three key observations. First, the law must keep evolving with time and societal change. Second, it shouldn’t violate anyone’s privacy, a fundamental right underscored in several orders of the SC. Lastly, when there is no provision of a 30-day notice period to get married under various personal laws, why should this be mandatory under the Special Marriage Act?

The court, however, clarified that the onus would be on the marriage officer to verify the identity, age and valid consent of the couple and their eligibility to marry under the relevant law. “In case the marriage officer has any doubt, it shall be open for him to ask for appropriate details or proof as per the facts of the case,” the court said.Responding to an earlier directive, the father of Sufiya alias Simran had produced his daughter in court. She and Abhisekh told the court that they were consenting adults who had married of their free will because they wanted to live together. Simran’s father thereafter gave his personal consent to their marriage. Full report on www.toi.in

Govt steps into WhatsApp row, ‘examining’ data-sharing update

Govt steps into WhatsApp row, ‘examining’ data-sharing update

Pankaj.Doval@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:14.01.2021

The Centre has stepped into the raging privacy controversy over WhatsApp’s latest update and has started an “examination” of the new mandate that the company has asked users to agree to by February 8. “We’re collecting details,” official sources told TOI, in an indication that the government is keeping a watch over the concerns around potential privacy violations in WhatsApp’s new updates that involves sharing certain business/transactional data with Facebook, the parent of the world’s biggest messenger.

Sources said the Centre’s concern stems from a variety of factors, including the ‘regulatory vacuum’ in the data protection space in the absence of a data protection law in the country. A bill for a data law is in Parliament, but a law may be sometime away.

Messages to remain encrypted: WhatsApp

Will Cathcart, head of WhatsApp, told TOI that the company’s communication about recent policy changes had caused confusion, but iterated messages between two people or in a group would remain encrypted. FLAP OPP

Privacy on everyone’s mind: Signal chief

Brian Acton, co-founder of Signal, which now leads the free app charts in 60 countries, told TOI everyone’s talking online privacy now and added Signal encrypts all messages, recipients, groups and profile photos. FLAP OPP

PRIVACY ISSUE

WhatsApp may be asked to explain

WhatsApp’s new privacy terms give it the right to share user data, including location, phone number, contacts list and usage pattern, with Facebook and its units such as Instagram and Messenger. The move has been questioned by privacy advocates, entrepreneurs such as Tesla founder Elon Musk, and certain government agencies abroad, citing Facebook’s poor track record in handling user data. “Also, the privacy update sought by WhatsApp in user agreement in European Union is seen as lenient while in India it is wideranging and may have terms that may potentially harm user privacy,” the official source said.

A detailed questionnaire sent to WhatsApp did not get any response.

The government has already had many run-ins with WhatsApp and Facebook over several matters, including on the Cambridge Analytica data leak matter (where a CBI inquiry is on) and regarding the spate of lynching incidents that were blamed on the spread of fake messaging on WhatsApp. The messenger at that time had downright refused to pay heed to the government’s request to

help disclose/identify the source of fake, inflammatory messages, saying its user chats are fully encrypted.

The current issue is being discussed at the highest level in the IT Ministry, and any action or step on the matter will be taken only after that.

The government may also seek certain explanations from WhatsApp regarding the proposed changes, though the company did not answer TOI’s queries to this effect.

Thamirabarani river floods as rain lashes central TN

Thamirabarani river floods as rain lashes central TN

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Tirunelveli/ Trichy:  14.01.2021

Heavy rain that lashed central districts over the past few days got more intense on Wednesday, leaving several urban areas inundated and destroying thousands of acres of paddy crops in the delta region. Thambirabarani river was flooded, leaving several villages and town areas along its course inundated. In Tirunelveli district, around 300 people were moved to relief centres while 87 other vulnerable areas are being monitored round the clock.

Water released into Thamirabarani river increased to 53,273 cusecs late on Wednesday. Tirunelveli district recorded average rainfall of 111mm rainfall from 8am on Tuesday to 4pm on Wednesday. The flooded river submerged low level bridges, culverts and roads at many places. Tenkasi district administration announced a ban on bathing at all the falls in Courtallam till January 17. Rains that lashed for the past few days damaged thousands of acres of matured samba paddy crop. About 2.06 lakh acres of paddy was already damaged in cyclones Nivar and Burevi. Kollidam (118mm) in Mayiladuthurai district recorded the highest rainfall in the delta region, Thiruvidaimaruthur in Thanjavur (107mm), Mayiladuthurai and Nagapattinam (93mm).

INUNDATED: A temple along Thamirabarani river course submerged

NEET marks disparity: HC to decide on probe on Jan 21

NEET marks disparity: HC to decide on probe on Jan 21

NTA Says No Discrepancy In Marks

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:14.01.2021

Amid allegations of marksheet manipulation in NEET against National Testing Agency (NTA), Madras highcourtsaiditwilltake a call on ordering probe by an independent agency on January 21.

Justice B Pugalendhi passed the interim order on the plea moved by K S Manoj, an MBBS aspirant from Coimbatore, alleging that his marksheet had been manipulated by NTA and that he was denied admission to medical course.

According to Manoj, when he downloaded his answer sheet first on October 15, the mark shown against his name was 594, whereas, on October 17 it was modified to 248 marks.

Justice Pugalendhi, taking note of the allegation and allowing the student to join the Tuticorin Medical College where he had been allotted a seat, however, said: "It is made clear that if an investigation is ordered and the investigation reveals any manipulation committed by the petitioner, not only the petitioner, but his parentswill alsobeheld responsible and have to face the legal consequences."

Noting that the admission is subject to the outcome of the plea, the judge said: “It is needless to state that the petitioner can neither take any advantage on the admission obtained in the college, which was made pursuant to the order of this court, nor can claim any refund of the fee paid at the time of admission.”

The petitioner will also be liable to pay the discontinued fee, the court added.

Opposing the plea, NTA had arguedthatscreenshots relied on by the petitioner showing more marks are fabricated and that there was only one OMR sheet, which would expose that petitioner had got 248 marks and not more than that.

Denying the same, the petitioner asserted that he had not tampered any document as claimed, and sought investigation by any agency.

The petitioner, an MBBS aspirant from Coimbatore, claimed that when he downloaded his answer sheet on October 15, the mark shown against his name was 594, whereas on October 17, it was 248

Madras High Court Directs Puducherry Fee Committee To Fix Fees For PG Medical Courses From 2017-18 Onwards Until Guidelines Are Framed By UGC/ NMC

Madras High Court Directs Puducherry Fee Committee To Fix Fees For PG Medical Courses From 2017-18 Onwards Until Guidelines Are Framed By UGC/ NMC: The Madras High Court on Monday ordered the Puducherry Fee Committee to fix the fee for Post Graduate Medical and Dental courses in Deemed Universities, for the from the academic year 2017-18...

No option to select between 2 vaccines, says govt.

No option to select between 2 vaccines, says govt.

13/01/2021

Special Correspondent NEW DELHI

People will not have the option of making a choice between the two available COVID vaccines — Covishield and Covaxin — when the roll-out starts on January 16, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said at a press conference on Tuesday.

The Union government, he said, had agreed to procure 110 lakh Covishield doses from the Serum Institute of India (SII) at ₹200/dose and 55 lakh doses of Covaxin from Bharat Biotech (BBIL), of which 38.5 lakh doses is priced at ₹295/dose. BBIL would provide 16.5 lakh doses of Covaxin free of cost to the Central government as a special gesture.

‘Continuous oversight’

“Our expectations from the States/UTs is that all logistics should be ready by January 16 and there should be continuous oversight and personal involvement in the entire process. Also, there should be special focus on communication activities and utilisation of all channels to create an encouraging environment,” Mr. Bhushan said.

Doctors’ association seeks opinion on vaccine safety

Doctors’ association seeks opinion on vaccine safety

TNGDA to issue an advisory for members by January 14

13/01/2021

Special CorrespondentCHENNAI

With some doctors expressing concerns over the safety of the COVID-19 vaccine and expressing their unwillingness to vaccinate themselves, the Tamil Nadu Government Doctors Association (TNGDA) has sought the opinion of independent specialists on the safety, efficacy and choice of the vaccines offered. They will issue an advisory for members based on the reports.

With the vaccination against COVID-19 for healthcare professionals and workers set to begin soon, the TNGDA sent a circular to all State executive committee (EC) members of the association. The TNGDA said the government had announced the starting of the vaccination drive against SARS-CoV-2. The government planned to launch the drive with two vaccines — Covishield and Covaxin. The Centre had announced the start of vaccination for healthcare professionals on January 16.

“In this situation, some of the doctors and other frontline workers have expressed concern on the safety of the vaccine supplied and if they have a choice. Some doctors have expressed unwillingness to vaccinate themselves for the fear of serious complications vis-a-vis the disease [infectivity and mortality],” the association said in the circular.

Due to the queries raised and the doubts prevailing among some doctors, the TNGDA had sought an opinion by January 13 from three independent specialists on the safety, efficacy and choice of vaccines offered. It will issue an advisory for its members and other stakeholders based on those reports after the scheduled TNGDA emergency executive committee meeting on January 14.

“We will finalise the advisory on January 14. It will mostly be on the type of vaccine to be preferred and who should take it. It is mostly surrounding the safety aspect,” an office-bearer said.

Vacancies in Secretariat a cause for concern

Vacancies in Secretariat a cause for concern

More than 150 Under Secretary posts are lying vacant

13/01/2021

Time to recruit: The government is racing against time to clear all files with the present strength. File photo

Dennis S. JesudasanCHENNAI

Several vacancies in various departments housed on the Secretariat campus in Chennai have become a cause for concern.

It is said that the vacancies were causing delays even as the government is racing against time to clear all the files ahead of the Assembly election. Most of the vacancies are of Under Secretary and Deputy Secretary posts in various departments.

Though the sanctioned strength of Under Secretaries is around 240 in 36 State government departments (in what is known as ‘one unit’, excluding the Finance and the Law Departments), more than 150 posts are vacant.

“The Under Secretaries are also posted as Public Information Officers [PIOs] for giving replies to RTI Act queries. Since about 70%-75% of posts are vacant, the response to RTI applications are also delayed,” said a section officer.

Section officers are not promoted as Under Secretaries. The promotion of typists, assistants and assistant section officers have also been affected as the Under Secretary posts have not been filled.

Another officer said certain litigation relating to the issue were pending in court, despite over 60 hearings.

“Only because the government extended the services of government employees by one more year with effect from last year, some Under-Secretaries are still in service. If not for the announcement, there would have been more vacancies,” he added. When contacted, a senior official told The Hindu that the government was not able to fill these vacancies due to the pending litigation.

However, instructions have been issued to the Personnel and Administrative Reforms Department to promote these (litigating) section officers to the Under Secretary posts, subject to the outcome of the case.

“However, we could not do the same for Deputy Secretary posts, since only a few positions are vacant and there are multiple claimants for each of these posts,” the official added.

AICTE urges college to pay salary dues to staff, return certificates

AICTE urges college to pay salary dues to staff, return certificates

9 teachers of Nagercoil-based engineering college have not been paid since March

13/01/2021

Special CorrespondentCHENNAI

The All India Council for Technical Education has asked the principal of Ponjesly College of Engineering in Nagercoil to pay salary to nine of its staff and also return the original certificates of its faculty.

The Council, in a letter to the principal, said it had received complaints from nine staff members, who had been working in the institution for the past four to seven years.

The faculty said the performance of the teachers was more than satisfactory as seven of 33 students had secured university ranks. Yet, the college had not paid them salary since March 2020.

Despite their performance, the college had been paying only a consolidated amount, the AICTE noted.

Not only did the college not pay salary as per AICTE norms but it also withheld all payments.

The staff appealed to the Council to ensure that the college paid them a minimum of ₹5,000 to enable them meet their domestic expenses, including recharging their mobile phones. Instead, the management had removed the faculty from the college’s official communication media group.

The AICTE communication said the management had insisted that the faculty resign when they asked for their original certificates to be returned.

Appeal to AICTE

The staff had appealed to the AICTE to help them receive their salary dues and arrears, be given access to their provident fund account, and return their certificates besides issuing experience certificates, covering their present service.

In a 10-page letter to the principal, the AICTE regional officer, M. Sundaresan, cited the various court verdicts that have been issued protecting the faculty’s rights.

A copy of the letter was also sent to the Commissioner of the Directorate of Technical Education and the Registrar of Anna University, besides the nine affected faculty members.

Lack of food and water in Tejas Express’

Lack of food and water in Tejas Express’

The train was re-introduced on January 10 after cancellation due to poor patronage

13/01/2021

S. SundarMadurai

A section of passengers travelling in Tejas Express complained of lack of drinking water, beverages and snacks.

The train was re-introduced on January 10 after cancellation due to poor patronage. The passengers said that they were put to lot of sufferings on the first train that left Chennai Egmore on Sunday.

“The train leaves Chennai Egmore early in the morning at 6 a.m. People have neither time to cook breakfast or buy food or water bottle as even hotels are not opened at that time,” complained J. Jerin (34) of Nagercoil.

Onboard railway employees claimed that distribution of food and water had been stopped after a passenger made a complaint.

Mr. Jerin said many passengers who failed to bring water had to suffer till the train reached Tiruchi. The worst part is that the train arrived Tiruchi station with a delay of an hour.

Some of the passengers had pleaded with the travelling ticket examiners to make the halt for additional five minutes so that everyone could buy water and food. He complained that even toilets were not maintained properly in the premium train.

“But, claiming that the train was already running behind the schedule, the TTE refused,” said another passenger, A. Ramachandran (62) of Theni.

Besides, elderly people found it difficult to buy food and water as the train stops for a brief while at the station.

Mr. Ramachandran said that the online ticket itself had made a mention that no food would be supplied with the ticket. However, water bottle, coffee/tea, snacks and food packets that were sold in the train earlier were missing on Sunday.

However, a railway official here said that Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation that operates the train could not make arrangement for the water and food immediately as operation of the train was announced all of a sudden.

Onboard sale of water bottles, coffee, snacks and noodles resumed on Tuesday, he added

Colleges not paying faculty despite fee reimbursement

Colleges not paying faculty despite fee reimbursement

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Hyderabad:13.01.2021

Despite receiving fee reimbursements dues from the government, technical colleges — engineering, MBA, pharmacy, among others — have allegedly not paid salaries to the faculty.

Faculty members said that many colleges are not paying salaries since April. Few managements are said to be paying only 50% of the salary.

“Except for a few top colleges, managements stopped paying salaries to their faculty members during the pandemic. Between November-December 2020, the state started releasing dues to college managements. But, even now the faculty members are yet to receive salaries,” said A Santosh Kumar, president, Telangana Schools’ Technical Colleges Employees Association.

They said that even top colleges, which are collecting over one lakh rupees as the fee from each student, are not paying proper salaries. “Despite receiving reimbursement amount and collecting annual fees from students, my management is paying only 50% salaries,” said a faculty member, working at a private engineering college in Ghatkesar.

They said that most of the colleges have divided faculty into different categories and are not paying them uniformly.

“In a college, few faculty members are paid full salaries, some are paid 50% salaries, and others are not being paid at all. This is the case with almost all the colleges. Overall, about 40% of the teaching faculty in technical institutions are forced to survive without salaries,” said V Balakrishna Reddy, president, Telangana Technical Employees Association.

The managements, meanwhile, said that they have only received a part of fee reimbursement dues from the state.

“Till now, only SC/ST fee reimbursement dues are released. In the majority of colleges, 70% of total scholarships belong to BC students. Unless they are cleared, managements will not be in a position to clear salary dues,” said K Ramadas, co-convenor, Telangana Private College Management Joint Action Committee.

Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University authorities, meanwhile, said that they have already given instructions to college managements to pay salaries to their staff and added that before sanctioning affiliation, they will be verifying the ground reality and will initiate action against erring colleges.

Don’t panic, bird flu is common in winter: Sr official

Don’t panic, bird flu is common in winter: Sr official

Neha.Madaan@timesgroup.com

Pune:13.01.2021

Avian flu occurs every year in the country because migratory birds bring the infection to India from across the world, Atul Chaturvedi, the secretary of the Union government’s department of animal husbandry, dairy and fisheries told TOI on Tuesday.

On the sudden outbreak of avian influenza in parts of the country, Chaturvedi said, “The outbreaks usually happen in winter months, starting from September-October till February-March. Unnecessary panic need not be created about avian influenza — a common phenomenon in India. Some years, the bird mortalities are more and in others less. Every year, India gets the disease because of bird migrations and is declared bird flu-free subsequently after the outbreak is over.”

He said, “In the history of bird flu in India over the last 15 years since 2006, not a single instance has been reported when the infection was passed on to humans. Human to human transmission is even more remote.”

Chaturvedi said there was also no requirement for banning import of poultry products from affected states, which some states were doing, because the infected poultry was being culled and not allowed to move out of the infected zone. “There should be no apprehension about the consumption of poultry products if they are cooked properly,” he said.

He said the states had been told to prioritise the testing of dead bird samples, which was of prime importance to contain the spread of avian influenza.

Chaturvedi said three states — Maharashtra, Haryana and Kerala — among the 10 affected with avian influenza so far in India had reported the outbreak in poultry and duck population, where culling might be required.

Full report on www.toi.in

Countdown to Delhi vaccination begins with 2.6L doses landing

Countdown to Delhi vaccination begins with 2.6L doses landing

Alok K N Mishra & Sidhartha Roy

New Delhi:13.01.2021

After over 10 months of counting Covid-19 cases daily, the capital on Tuesday began to keep track of a new tally with 2.64 lakh doses of Covishield vaccine arriving at Delhi airport. Stored at the city’s largest and central Covid vaccine cold storage facility at Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital in east Delhi, the vials will inject new hope into the fight against the pandemic from Saturday.

Starting with 8,900 healthcare workers, who are to be inoculated at 89 booths across the capital, the unprecedented campaign aims to vaccinate 2.25 lakh healthcare workers before moving on to other vulnerable groups and gradually widening the scope to cover people in the rest of the city.

The vials are protected by three security layers and have been stored at an optimal temperature (2 to 8o C). A cold van delivered 22 boxes of vaccines at the hospital with each box containing 12,000 doses.

Special flight brings vials to IGI

Delhi’s first vaccine consignment arrived on a SpiceXpress SG 8937 at IGI airport at 10.15am in specially packed airtight containers. The flights are capable of transporting extremely sensitive drugs, blood samples and vaccines in a controlled temperature range of -40o C to +25o C. P 3

Police set up ‘green corridor’

Delhi Police put in place a “green corridor” and deployed escort vehicles for the two containers from Delhi airport on Tuesday afternoon.“A distance of around 40km was covered in around 52 minutes,” joint commissioner of police (traffic) Manish Agrawal said. P 3

100 to be vaccinated a day at each booth

Each box has 1,200 vials and each vial contains 10 doses.

An official said the entire storage facility at the hospital is under 24x7 CCTV surveillance with Delhi Police personnel and the hospital’s own security staff standing guard.

The vaccine will be sent by the health & family welfare department in cold vans to over 89 cold chain points which are located near 89 vaccination booths where the drive will be launched. An official said the vaccine can be stored easily at the cold chain points for a long period. "For the booths located at the government facilities, the vials will be sent a day before Saturday while for the booths located at private hospitals, these will be sent on Saturday morning," said Dr Suneela Garg, director-professor and head of community medicine at Maulana Azad Medical College and a public health expert.

CM Arvind Kejriwal will kickstart the vaccination programme at a function at Lok Nayak Hospital. At each vaccination booth, only a 100 people will be vaccinated in a day.

Those who have enrolled for vaccination will receive text messages from the districts a day earlier mentioning date and time and address of the booth. The SMS and an identity card will be needed to be produced at the booth.

Each booth will have three rooms and will be guarded by Delhi Police and managed by civil defence volunteers. Verification of the credentials of the beneficiary will be done in the first room and entries will be made on the Co-WIN app. The person will then be inoculated in another room. The next stop will be the observation room where the beneficiary will have to stay for 30 minutes to guard against any adverse event.

Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital was selected after the Centre wrote a letter to the Delhi government a few months ago asking for identifying a space of around 5,000 square metres. A team of the Union health ministry surveyed and approved the utility block after which the building was retrofitted.

"The modifications carried out included changing of existing doors so that the deep freezers for bulk storage could be brought in easily. More electricity points were also added and adequate power back-up arranged," said a gover nment official.

Delhi government has identified two more storage facilities. "We also have our existing facility at Battery Lane in north Delhi’s Civil Lines area as a secondary storage point and a third one has been identified at the office of the Directorate General of Health Services in Karkardooma in east Delhi. However, two storage facilities would be more than enough for our requirements and we have identified the third one in case the need arises," he said.

•PM to interact with city health workers on Sat, P 4

•Corpn staff to skip vax duty over arrears, P 4 8 9

VACCINE BOOTHS IDENTIFIED FOR DRIVE

No assured career progression for staff in pvt institutions: HC

No assured career progression for staff in pvt institutions: HC

Ajay.Sura@timesgroup.com

Chandigarh:13.01.2021

Punjab and Haryana high court has made it clear that teaching staff and non-teaching employees serving in private government-aided schools and colleges in Haryana would not be entitled to assured career progression (ACP) and other similar benefits provided to regular staff working in state-run institutions.

“It may be noted here that the ACP was introduced to remove stagnation. It is an incentive to employees who work on a post continuously without getting opportunity to progress in the service. With this object in mind, these rules were notified. However, teachers of aided schools and non-teaching staff of aided colleges are not employees of the government and therefore, they cannot, as a matter of right, claim benefits under the ACP,” the HC has ruled.

On the contentions that such benefits of ACP are available to technical colleges, the HC made it clear that those colleges constitute a different category. As regards the plea of non-teaching employees of affiliated colleges for ACP benefits, the HC clarified that statutory provisions do not entitle non-teaching employees parity with the government employee with respect to benefit of ACP Rules, 1998.

Justice Anil Kshetarpal of the HC passed these orders while hearing a bunch of petitions filed by Haryana State Adhyapak Sangh, Haryana Private Colleges Non-Teaching Employees Union and others.

The petitioners, employees of privately managed aided schools/colleges, approached the HC to issue directions to the state of Haryana to pay benefits under the Haryana Civil Services (Assured Career Progression) Rules framed from time to time. In the year 2016, the state notified the Haryana Civil Services (Assured Career Progression) Rules, 2016 substituting the previous one.

The issue before the HC was whether teachers and employees of privately managed aided school/colleges are entitled to benefits at par with government servants, under the Haryana Civil Services (Assured Career Progression) Rules, 1998 or rules framed thereafter, substituting the previous one. The HC observed that it is apparent from the definition of government servants/government employees makes it is explicitly clear that the rules are applicable only to government servants.

Medico falls from 3rd floor, dies

Medico falls from 3rd floor, dies

Indore:13.01.2021

A 19-year-old MBBS student died after falling from third floor of Index Medical College hostel after slipping from the window on Monday.

Khudel police station in-charge Mahendra Singh Bhadoriya said that the youth was identified as Ayushman, son of Amit alias Vicky Gupta who hailed from Shivpuri and had been studying in Indore in second semester. Ayushman’s mother is also a doctor in Shivpuri. He had joined the course in Index Medical College in 2019.

It came to fore that the youth was standing in the third floor alley of his hostel when someone called him from the ground floor. As he peeped down, he slipped and fell.

The incident was recorded in CCTVs installed in the area in which it became clear that he had slipped and fallen. Officials said that they were checking all the points in the case. TNN

ID cards for third gender in Bhopal, a first in India

ID cards for third gender in Bhopal, a first in India

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bhopal:13.01.2021

In a novel initiative, the Bhopal administration has started giving identity cards to persons from the third gender, so that they could also take benefits of the government’s welfare schemes.

After they get ID cards, persons from the third gender will be eligible for schemes run by the social justice department.

Joint director, social justice department, R P Singh, said that Bhopal is, perhaps, the first district in the country to be giving ID cards to persons from the third gender. It would not only give a distinct recognition to them, but also enable them take benefits of the government schemes and schemes especially meant for them could also be made at the government-level, he added.

All members of the transgender community living in Bhopal would get the identity cards.

All CA exams to be held online

All CA exams to be held online

Mulls Statutory Body ICAI Post Covid-19 Pandemic

Prashant.Rupera@timesgroup.com

Vadodara:13.01.2021

During the peak of Covid-19 induced pandemic, Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), the statutory body that manages the CA profession in the country, had gone ahead with exams in physical mode.

But in the long-run, world’s second largest professional body of CAs, has decided to conduct online exams only.

CA exams are conducted in May and November ever year. However, owing to the pandemic, the exams scheduled in May last year were postponed multiple times and later merged with the November exams.

In fact, ahead of the November 2020 exams, some students had even filed a writ petition before the Supreme Court raising safety concerns which was disposed of by the court.

“We are seriously considering all the possible options to make all the exams of all three levels – foundation, intermediate and final stages of CA – online. Our Delhi council is exploring the means. We will adopt the best model,” said Lalit Bajaj, chairman of Western India Regional Council (WIRC) of ICAI said on Tuesday.

Bajaj, who along with other office-bearers of WIRC took part in felicitation programme organised by Vadodara branch.

“The nature of CA exams is quite different. While the questions are asked in analytical format, the answers are not objective type but descriptive in nature. Currently, we have lot of MCQbased models for online examinations. We are exploring an alternative online model which assesses analytical skills keeping in mind all safety concerns,” said WIRC’s vice-chairman Vishal Doshi.

Unlike exams conducted by other institutes, the CA exams are held nation-wide and continue for days together. “There are other competitive exams which are held for a day or couple of days. But CA exams are held pan-India and they go on for 25 days covering all the three stages – making it a challenging task,” said Doshi.

Meanwhile, the CA examinations for the students who had opted-out from November 2020 examinations and opted for November 2020 cycle-II are scheduled from January 21 to February 7.

Across western region covering Gujarat, Maharashtra and Goa, the November exams had witnessed 70% turnout.

HC rejects plea for online test in GTU

HC rejects plea for online test in GTU

Ahmedabad:  13.01.2021

The Gujarat high court on Tuesday turned down the petition filed by students of the Gujarat Technological University (GTU) opposing the university’s decision to conduct pen-paper exams and not granting an option of online test for semester exams.

The students had approached the HC after GTU refused to grant an option of online exam for semester exam and insisted that the students would have to appear in person to take the tests.

The students claimed that GTU had conducted final year examinations online earlier due to Covid-19. There was no reason to put the students at risk amid the pandemic by asking them to go and sit in the exam at the exam centres, when the university can conduct it online. TNN

‘The imprisonment and high-tech torture of dying people in ICUs is a growing Indian disease’

Q&A

‘The imprisonment and high-tech torture of dying people in ICUs is a growing Indian disease’

13.01.2021

Palliative care is a branch of medical care that aims to mitigate the symptoms of serious ailments. It is sometimes offered concurrently with other treatments. WHO estimates 40 million people need palliative care every year. MR Rajagopal, a physician by training and founderdirector of a charitable trust Pallium India, explained its importance to Narayani Ganesh:

What is palliative care?

Palliative care is prevention and management of serious healthrelated suffering. It provides not only relief from pain and other symptoms, but also enables social, mental and spiritual well-being. It tries to understand every fibre of the suffering. The source of suffering could be any of the following: pain, breathlessness, an ulcer, anxiety, depression, issues of relationships, and abandonment by the family, hopelessness or even suicidal thoughts.

At the moment, palliative care is available only to a tiny minority of people in India. At least 98% people are deprived of even basic pain relief. In the context of the growing catastrophic health expenditure which pushes 5.5 crore of Indians into poverty every year, it becomes particularly important to bring in more humanity and compassion to care.

How would you describe ‘healthy ageing’?

When you hear the expression ‘healthy ageing’, what thoughts cross your mind? Preventing lifestyle diseases like diabetes and hypertension, perhaps? You might also think about mobility and financial independence. They are all important. But let me share with you a lesson that a lot of ailing and dying people taught me: Love.

Investment in love and being connected become most important towards the end of one’s life. Remember, no one can be an island. We are social beings. A hand that says with a touch, “I care for you,” becomes all-important.

Is palliative care meant only for geriatric and end-of-life patients or can any gravely ill person, old or young, go for this option?

Palliative care is not only for any particular age group. It is not only for the dying and is not only for any particular disease. If there is suffering, palliative care has to step in, hand-in-hand with treatment of diseases. It is best done if every doctor and every nurse learns its principles and integrates it into their work. But, even then, for difficult issues, palliative care specialists will still be needed. And when the disease becomes incurable, palliative care continues to improve quality of life. Palliative care is also for the family and provides support even during bereavement process.

Most relatives try to prolong the life of a terminally ill patient at great financial cost in an ICU. Is palliative care a more affordable and humane option?

Death is the inevitable consequence of every life. The weeks or months preceding death can become a precious time, rebuilding connections, giving love and receiving love. The medical system needs to understand that it does not have a duty to prolong the dying process, when the disease is advanced and treatment is obviously futile.

Unfortunately, the imprisonment and high-tech torture of dying people in intensive care units is a growing Indian disease. This is clearly unethical. Relatives may want to “do everything” to keep the person alive; they need to be helped to come to a state of acceptance.

Where are we in palliative care and what promise does the future hold for us?

In 2014, the World Health Assembly had asked for integration of palliative care into all health care. In May 2020, it recommended inclusion of palliative care in Covid-19 strategy. Though neither of these has been achieved in India, there are several silver linings. The National Health Policy of 2017 does include palliative care. Several legal restrictions on the use of opioids for pain relief, have been overcome by a law enacted by Parliament in 2014. The MBBS curriculum includes most aspects of palliative care from 2019 onward.

All this lays the foundation for better care. But success will be limited if it is all left only for government action. Everyone in the community has a role to play, to offer a helping hand. Participation of the community is crucial to good palliative care. As the Astana Declaration said in 2018, healthcare ‘for all’ has to be healthcare ‘with all’.

What has been the impact of Covid-19 on palliative care?

Covid-19 has been an amplifier of suffering in every respect. As of now, approximately 1.5 lakh people have died of Covid-19 in India. They all die isolated from the family, most of them breathless and in physical, social and spiritual pain. At least 5 lakh people have been bereaved in the most brutal fashion – a loved one whisked away in an ambulance, never to be seen again with not even a proper farewell to the mortal remains – and they are at serious risk of mental illness.

Moreover, the suffering caused by lockdowns – particularly loss of income and lack of access to healthcare – has been horrendous.