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'Pension Scheme Must Be Interpreted Widely' : Supreme Court Allows Central Govt Service To Be Included For Pension Of Gujarat Govt Employee Gyanvi Khanna 12 Feb 2024 11:47 AM Listen to this Article Recently, the Supreme Court, while granting a pension to a government employee under Gujarat Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 2022, observed that a government servant earns a pension in lieu of tireless service by him/ her. Further, pension is often an important consideration for the person(s) seekin

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38 medicos suspended for making reels inside hospital in Karnataka

38 medicos suspended for making reels inside hospital in Karnataka

The video went viral and many people who watched videos said that the hospital is not a place for such things as hundreds of patients are under treatment there.

The final year medical students recently celebrated an annual day function and they have made a reel of Kannada and Hindi songs and uploaded the same on social media.(Representative image)

Raghottam Koppar

Updated on:

11 Feb 2024, 7:27 am

GADAG: The Gadag Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS) has ordered temporary suspension of 38 final year medical students after their reels shot inside the hospital went viral on social media platforms. The final year medical students recently celebrated an annual day function and they have made a reel of Kannada and Hindi songs and uploaded the same on social media.

The video went viral and many people who watched videos said that the hospital is not a place for such things as hundreds of patients are under treatment there.

The videos of medical students dancing to Hindi song ‘Tu cheez hai mast mast’ and Kannada song ‘Ranadheera’ are viral on social media and netizens commented that the students disturbed hundreds of patients while making reels and the medical students could have done the same in other places. Several students wore stethoscopes and acted like doctors and some wore bandages to make the reels.

Tirunelveli MCH admin accused of leaving expectant, new mothers without food

Tirunelveli MCH admin accused of leaving expectant, new mothers without food

While speaking to pregnant women, currently admitted or recently discharged from TvMCH, several of them also alleged disparity in distribution of food in the wards.

Patients at the TvMCH alleged they raised complaints with the doctors regarding the improper supply of food in vain.

V Karthik Alagu

Thinakaran Rajamani

12 Feb 2024, 9:29 am

TIRUNELVELI: A few of the expectant and new mothers, who are admitted to Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital (TvMCH), alleged that the hospital administration has not been providing them with proper food, thereby forcing them to spend huge sums (almost equalling the expense one might incur at a private hospital) on purchasing potentially unhygienic food from outside hotels.

While speaking to pregnant women, who are either currently admitted or were recently discharged from TvMCH, several of them also alleged disparity in distribution of food in the wards.

Speaking to TNIE, a new mother said, "Every day, a supplier would bring idli and sambar to the wards in the early hours. Later, around 11 am, he will bring milk, bread, eggs, and bananas, and around 1 pm, he distributes lunch, which includes rice, sambar and a limited amount of vegetable poriyal. However, not all expectant and new mothers, other than those who fight for it with the supplier, receive this food. For instance, I have not received food at the hospital for a single day, in spite of having spent several days here in three different wards, before and after my delivery."

Whereas, another new mother said that she had managed to get two idlis with sambar every morning, and a ladle of meal with sambar in the afternoon before her delivery.

"However, after my C-Section, I could not get food as I was unable to run towards the 'fast-moving' supplier, who always offered the food after scolding me briefly for no reason. Also, I have never got items like eggs, bread or banana, which are usually served to the housekeepers of the hospital, for my meal."

She further alleged that raising complaints with the duty doctors regarding the improper supply of food were in vain.

"My parents had brought me to TvMCH as we did not have enough money to approach a private hospital. Ironically, in TvMCH, my mother spends at least Rs 225 for food daily, as we are forced to buy it from outside hotels. On several days, I had to have only a vada and coffee for breakfast. Some other days, my mother even had to borrow money to purchase food," she rued, adding that the duty doctors never asked her if she was provided with nutritious food during the consultation period.

It may be noted that TvMCH has witnessed a total of 8,238 deliveries in 2021, 7,889 in 2022 and 6,401 in 2023 (till November), as stated in a RTI reply sought by A Veronica Mary, a health activist.

When contacted by TNIE, TvMCH dean Revathy Balan denied all the said allegations and claimed that the administration has been serving food properly to pregnant women and new mothers in the wards.

“Some parents may prefer home-made food like non-veg soup for their children, who are under treatment at our hospital. However, we serve food to all patients as per the menu fixed by the state government. We even take a sample to ensure if the food tastes good or not,” she said.

Meanwhile, an RTI reply given by TvMCH administration to M Sugan Christoper of Melaputhaneri, stated that the hospital has spent Rs 1.87 crore in 2018-19, Rs 1.4 crore in 2019-20, Rs 1.66 crore in 2020-21 and Rs 1.58 crore in 2021-22 (till September) to supply food to all the in-patients under treatment.

"Idli and sambar in the morning, milk, egg, bread, banana and orange at 9 am, meal (rice, sambar, buttermilk, keerai, cabbage and poriyal) in the afternoon, milk and sundal at 4 pm, and rava kichadi and bottlegourd poriyal in the night, were supplied to in-patients as on September 13, 2022," the RTI reply from the Public Information Officer of TvMCH read.

University of Madras stares at power cut as I-T puts bank accounts on hold

University of Madras stares at power cut as I-T puts bank accounts on hold

“We spoke to income tax officials but they are asking us to deposit at least Rs 20 crore immediately to remove the hold on bank accounts. We are not in a position to do that."

Express

Binita Jaiswal

Updated on:

12 Feb 2024, 10:35 am

CHENNAI: The University of Madras may face a complete blackout on Monday without power supply if it fails to pay its electricity bill due of `80 lakh by that date by clearing the hold placed on its 37 bank accounts by the I-T department. The income tax department has put a hold on the bank accounts over alleged nonpayment of Rs 424 crore tax dues.

As per rules, if an institution receives more than 51% of its revenue as grants from state or central government, it is treated as a government institution and is exempted from paying income tax. However, due to thousands of audit objections, the university has not received grants from the Tamil Nadu government since 2017. Because of this, the I-T department is considering the university as a private institution and has levied a tax of Rs 424 crore on it from 2017-18 to 2020-21.

“We spoke to income tax officials but they are asking us to deposit at least Rs 20 crore immediately to remove the hold on bank accounts. We are not in a position to do that,” an official of the university told TNIE on Sunday.

“After our 37 bank accounts were put on hold by the I-T department, over a dozen cheques issued by the university over the last three days under different heads have bounced. If we don’t pay the electricity bills by Monday, our power lines may be disconnected. Our classrooms and hostels could turn dark and we may not even be able to carry our routine work,” university sources said.

Apart from employees and pensioners, whose salaries and pension payments are under threat, students will be adversely affected as the university will not be able to clear the fellowship and scholarships dues.

‘Audit objections brought down to 1,900’

On an average, the university needs at least Rs 18 crore, including Rs 7 crore for salary and Rs 8 crore for pension, per month to manage its recurring expenses. Officials are worried that the 166-year-old institution, which produced six former Presidents and two Nobel Laureates, could come to a complete standstill if the issue is not resolved on a priority basis.

According to sources, apart from freezing the university’s 37 fixed deposit and bank accounts maintained with State Bank of India, Chepauk branch, the I-T department has also put on hold the accounts of the university with Tamil Nadu Power Finance and Infrastructure Development Corporation. Corpus fund, endowment funds, donations, and earnings from other sources of the university were deposited into these accounts.

The I-T department’s action has come as a bolt from the blue for the university that was already in acute financial crisis and struggling to manage its day-to-day expenses.

“Despite severe financial constraint, we were somehow running the show through other sources of income such as earnings of Institute of Distance Education, interests from endowment fund deposits, and contributory pension scheme deposits. But after freezing the accounts, the university operations have come to a standstill. And there is no immediate solution for the problem,” a professor of the university said.

According to a few professors and former vice-chancellors, the situation has arisen due to continuous neglect of governments over the years and rampant corruption by those in power.

“There are over 4,000 audit objections with respect to the university accounts and in the last four to five years, the varsity has managed to reduce it to 1,900. Still there are major objections related to irregularities in appointments and irregularity in fixation of salaries which will take years for rectification. We may not be able to get grants from the state government till then,” said a source.

Interestingly, the university which is struggling to deal with thousands of audit objections doesn’t have a full-time auditor due to paucity of funds.

“An officer in the rank of joint secretary or deputy secretary from the finance department of the state government is appointed as the finance officer of the university to look after the financial affairs. But over the last 10 years, the university has seen over four officers and the job has not been done properly,” a professor said.

Strapped for cash, University of Madras unable to manage hostels

Strapped for cash, University of Madras unable to manage hostels

Sources say varsity authorities are mulling taking loans to feed students

Express News Service

Updated on:
13 Feb 2024, 7:26 am

CHENNAI: University of Madras on Monday fell into a real predicament as it realised all its hostel bank accounts have been frozen by the Income Tax (I-T) department. Varsity authorities alleged that they have no money to operate the campus hostels now as the I-T department is tightening its noose around the university day by day.

“How will we feed the students in the hostels? As all the accounts are frozen and we don’t have a single rupee in hand to manage the hostels, “ said a hostel official, adding that the I-T department’s action is unfair. “The money deposited in the hostels’ account is not our earnings. It’s the money paid by students towards their lodging expenses,” said another official.

According to sources, the university has 7 hostels, which accommodate around 2,000 students. On average, the university needs `3 lakh per day to keep the hostels operational.

Sources said that the university authorities are contemplating taking loans to run the hostels. “As we can’t leave the students hungry, we will take a loan to manage the hostels. However, the loan will only add to our financial burden as we are already cash-strapped,” said an official.

Meanwhile, a team of varsity officials again met the I-T department on Monday, seeking relief on the issue. By the time of filing this report, discussion among the officials was still on. According to sources, the varsity has been apprised of the problems they face with the higher education secretary and state government.

“Hopefully, the state government will intervene in the matter and we will get relief. Otherwise, how we will pay a tax of `424 crore to the Income tax department,” asked a professor of the university.

Officials added that they will also have a discussion with the TNEB officials to get the last day to clear the bill extended.

Tamil Nadu has highest number of medical colleges; Karnataka offers most UG/PG seats

Tamil Nadu has highest number of medical colleges; Karnataka offers most UG/PG seats

During the last five years, the number of medical colleges has increased from 499 in 2018-19 to 648 in 2022-23 and raised MBBS seats from 70012 seats in 2018-19 to 96077 seats in 2022-23.

Kavita Bajeli-Datt

Updated on:

02 Feb 2024, 8:54 pm

NEW DELHI: Tamil Nadu has the highest number of government and private medical colleges in the country, followed by Uttar Pradesh, as per data shared by the Union Health Ministry on Friday.

While Karnataka has 24 government medical colleges, it has the highest number of private colleges, 46 in the country in 2023-24.

The southern state also offers the highest number of undergraduate – 11,745 - and postgraduate seats -6449 - mostly in private medical colleges, as per data shared by the Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya in the Lok Sabha on Friday.

In the Lok Sabha, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said Friday that the government has increased the number of medical colleges and subsequently increased MBBS seats.

“There is an increase of 82% in medical colleges from 387 before 2014 to 706 as of now. Further, there is an increase of 112% in MBBS seats from 51,348 before 2014 to 1,08,940; there is also an increase of 127% in PG seats from 31,185 before 2014 to 70,645 as of now,” he said.

He also said that during the last five years, the number of medical colleges has increased from 499 in 2018-19 to 648 in 2022-23 and raised MBBS seats from 70012 seats in 2018-19 to 96077 seats in 2022-23.

The PG seats have also increased from 39583 in 2018-19 to 64059 in 2022-23, he said.

While Tamil Nadu has 38 government medical colleges, it has 36 private medical colleges in 2023-24. Uttar Pradesh has 35 government colleges and 33 private medical colleges.

Maharashtra ranks number three among the states with the most medical colleges in the country. It has 32 government medical colleges and 36 private ones.

Telangana has an equal number of government and private medical colleges at 28 each.

Gujarat has 23 government medical colleges and 17 private ones. It is followed by Andhra Pradesh, which has 18 government colleges and 19 private ones. Kerala has 12 government medical colleges and 21 private ones.

While Karnataka tops in offering the highest number of both UG and PG seats, Tamil Nadu has the second highest of UG seats at 11,650. It is followed by Maharashtra at 10,845, Uttar Pradesh at 9903, Telangana at 8490 and Gujarat at 7150.

However, after Karnataka, the highest number of PG seats are available in Maharashtra at 6074. It is followed by Tamil Nadu at 5134, Uttar Pradesh at 4220, Andhra Pradesh at 3568 and Telangana at 3112.

The Northeastern states are the only states that have very few medical colleges. States like Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya,Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh have only one government medical college each, while Sikkim even doesn't have that. It has only one private medical college. Manipur is the only state in the northeast that boasts three government medical colleges and one private medical college.