No bribes needed here, says this clerk

Panchayat employee in Kerala wears his campaign on his sleeve

 


A smiling panchayat clerk who welcomes visitors and even wants their rating at the end of a visit to the local body would seem cinematic, but not in Kerala’s largest grama panchayat in Malappuram district.

Abdul Saleem Palliyalthody is the face visitors look for at the Angadipuram panchayat office when they go for service. At 42, he has been employed at the local body for three years now.
Mr. Saleem makes no secret of his public service enthusiasm. On his table is a prominent notice that declares his opposition to bribery.

The notice in Malayalam reads: “The government pays me Rs. 811 a day (Rs. 24,340 a month) to serve you. If you are not happy with my service, please tell me about it.” He has updated his pay whenever it changed since he put up the notice in 2014.

The ‘anti-corruption’ notice went viral when a curious visitor posted it on social media recently.
“Service is the essence of any government job. People coming to us for different things should not return empty-handed. They should return satisfied,” says Mr. Saleem, whose panchayat has a staff strength of 17.

No one entering the office can miss the central figure. He offers to help even if it is not part of his job, which involves issue of various certificates and documents on buildings. “His approach makes people aware of their rights,” says his superintendent, I.P. Peethambaran.

Polio does not deter

Mr. Saleem says panchayat secretary, K. Sidheek, who is himself a State best secretary awardee for 2011-12, let him be outspoken. Mr. Sidheek says his junior colleague has had a positive impact on the entire staff.

Motivating effect
Panchayat president O. Kesavan welcomes the ‘motivating’ effect. Unlike other local body staff, Mr. Saleem is from the same village and worked elsewhere, including in West Asia, before returning to home base.

He does not let his 40% polio disability affect field visits done on his scooter. The Vigilance Department had recently said local bodies and revenue offices were among the most corrupt government offices.

Nurse in eye of storm as patient dies in Salem GMKMCH

By M Sabari  |  Express News Service  |   Published: 29th March 2017 03:04 AM  |  

Last Updated: 29th March 2017 03:04 AM  |   A+A A-   |  

SALEM: A video of a nurse, purportedly downplaying the death of a patient under her watch, went viral on social media, sending top officials at the Government Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College Hospital (GMKMCH) in Salem into an overdrive to contain the damage, here on Tuesday.

Soon after outrage started pouring in, GMKMCH dean Kanagaraj ordered a probe to find out if the death was due to the nurse’s negligence.

According to sources, Chandran (38), a painter from Shevapet in Salem, was referred to the GMKMCH from the government Hosur hospital on Saturday after he sustained grievous injuries in a fall off a building on Friday.

Chandran was admitted to the trauma ward at GMKMCH in the early hours of Saturday.  However, he was shifted to the septic ward on Sunday as there was no friend or relative attending on him. Later in the day, Chandran’s relative called on him at the hospital, only to find him lying dead on his bed. 

When they alerted the duty nurse, she came to the ward and did not touch the body to ascertain if Chandran had passed away. A few relatives recorded the exchange of words on their mobile phones and circulated it on social media like Whatsapp and Facebook.

In the video, relatives of Chandran ask the nurse to check whether the patient was dead. The nurse comes near Chandran and does not touch him. When relatives question her, she retorts she has to take care of eight wards and might not have checked on Chandran. 

Meanwhile, GMKMCH doctors defended the nurse, blaming the deceased’s relatives for not accompanying him. “During nights, nurses monitor all the patients.

If there is someone with a patient, they can alert them in case of emergency,” they said. Speaking to Express, Dean Kanagaraj said preliminary inquiries revealed that the nurse was in charge of two wards, not eight as claimed in video.

Rare tumour removed from woman’s food pipe by RGGGH doctors

By Express News Service  |   Published: 29th March 2017 03:57 AM  |  

Dr K Narayanasamy, dean (in-charge), RGGGH inspecting Saraswathy, along with Dr MK Rajasekar, director, ENT and Dr Elango, resident medical officer | Express

CHENNAI: When Saraswathy (59) told her family and neighbours that she felt that something was popping out of her mouth whenever she coughed, every one thought she was hallucinating.

Only later when she was taken to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital it was found she was suffering from a peculiar tumour in her food pipe and it was the tumour that was emerging out of her mouth.

“One day when I was alone at home, I coughed and it came out from mouth. That was the first experience. I was scared, screamed and started sweating. When I told my family, none believed me” Sarawathi said at a press meet organised by the hospital doctors. The doctors said  only two such cases of tumour were reported globally.

“When I told others, they all said its just my tongue and I am hallucinating. But the experience kept haunting me. Then, I took the help of my little grand daughter, to take a picture, when it protrudes next time. It worked, she was there with me when I had such an experience again, and she clicked it on mobile phone. Then, she shared it on Whatsapp to others. They believed me after seeing the photo,” Saraswathy, a home maker and a resident of Vadapalani, said.

She had been suffering the tumour for nearly last four years. While it protruded out only when she coughed, it  merged with the food pipe during other times.

Private hospitals Sarawathy approached initially could not diagnose the tumour. As the pain in the throat became very unbearable, she finally landed at the RGGGH after referrals from other government hospitals. “We too did not believe what she said. But, when testing with an endoscopic device, she coughed and the tumour popped out. We were shocked on seeing it because none of us had come across anything like this before,” said M K Rajasekar, Director, ENT department, RGGGH.

The tumour was nearly 15 cm in length and was almost like another tongue. The doctors said two such cases that were reported earlier were  in Andhra Pradesh (4 cm) and Spain (5 cm).

“Removing the tumour was a little challenge. We used a harmonic scalpel to ensure there was no blood loss,” said Rajasekar says recalling the surgery that was conducted on March 9. Saraswathy was discharged on Tuesday.

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Nurse in eye of storm as patient dies in Salem GMKMCH

By M Sabari  |  Express News Service  |   Published: 29th March 2017 03:04 AM  |  

SALEM: A video of a nurse, purportedly downplaying the death of a patient under her watch, went viral on social media, sending top officials at the Government Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College Hospital (GMKMCH) in Salem into an overdrive to contain the damage, here on Tuesday.

Soon after outrage started pouring in, GMKMCH dean Kanagaraj ordered a probe to find out if the death was due to the nurse’s negligence.

According to sources, Chandran (38), a painter from Shevapet in Salem, was referred to the GMKMCH from the government Hosur hospital on Saturday after he sustained grievous injuries in a fall off a building on Friday.

Chandran was admitted to the trauma ward at GMKMCH in the early hours of Saturday.  However, he was shifted to the septic ward on Sunday as there was no friend or relative attending on him. Later in the day, Chandran’s relative called on him at the hospital, only to find him lying dead on his bed. 

When they alerted the duty nurse, she came to the ward and did not touch the body to ascertain if Chandran had passed away. A few relatives recorded the exchange of words on their mobile phones and circulated it on social media like Whatsapp and Facebook.

In the video, relatives of Chandran ask the nurse to check whether the patient was dead. The nurse comes near Chandran and does not touch him. When relatives question her, she retorts she has to take care of eight wards and might not have checked on Chandran. 

Meanwhile, GMKMCH doctors defended the nurse, blaming the deceased’s relatives for not accompanying him. “During nights, nurses monitor all the patients.

If there is someone with a patient, they can alert them in case of emergency,” they said. Speaking to Express, Dean Kanagaraj said preliminary inquiries revealed that the nurse was in charge of two wards, not eight as claimed in video.

Three forge certificates to secure teacher posts in Tamil Nadu government schools

By B Anbuselvan  |  Express News Service  |   Published: 29th March 2017 03:10 AM  |  

TIRUVANNAMALAI: Fooling the entire government machinery for nearly three years, two women and a man served as school teachers after forging certificates in three different schools of the district.  
The trio, who went absconding since Monday, have been booked by police on several charges.  

They have been identified as C Muthulakshmi, assistant graduate teacher for Tamil at Government High school at Aaavaniyapuram near Vandavasi, C Punithavathi, a graduate teacher for history at Government High school  Vadamampakkam, and S Vijayakumar, a graduate teacher for English at Government High School in Melmattai near Vinnamangalam.

Copy of the fake appointment letter produced
by Maheswari and her brother | Express

About a month ago, Tiruvannamalai chief education officer V Jayakumar received a complaint against Muthulakshmi alleging she was not a government servant. She had taken up the position in June 2014 by producing a transfer order from Mambakkam Government School near Arcot.

Acting on the complaint, Jayakumar asked all school headmasters in the district to send the details of teachers  appointed in their schools in the last ten years along with the copy of appointment letters.

The education officials verified the details and it was found that Muthu-lakshmi did not work at Government School in Mambakkam and the transfer order submitted by her was a forged document. The inquiry also led to Punithavathi and Vijayakumar, who also forged their appointment letters.

The trio had been receiving their salaries from the government for the past three years. Following investigations, Jayakumar lodged a complaint to Superintendent of Police R Ponni against the 'three teachers'.
Jayakumar told Express that a departmental inquiry had  been ordered as to how the trio remained in service for nearly three years.

"We have also initiated procedures to terminate three of them from service," he added.
A senior police officer said, the trio has been booked under IPC 465 (forgery), 468 (purpose of cheating) and 471 (fraudulently creating documents).

Mar 29 2017 : The Times of India (Chennai)

Doc in dock for fake paper 5 yrs after man's death

Pushpa Narayan

Chennai:





A government doctor who issued a false medical certificate to a man five years after his death is facing disciplinary action, including suspension of medical licence, after a Motor Accident Claims Tribunal found him guilty. Ariyalur chief judicial magistrate A S Ravi has directed the Tamil Nadu State Medical Council to initiate departmental action against Dr B Anand, a civil assistant surgeon of Vedaranyam Government Hospital, and submit the result of the proceedings to the court.

  The magistrate attached copies of the orders he had passed on March 13 along with a copy of the `medical certificate' and the deposition of the doctor during cross-examination.
Council president Dr K Senthil said the issue would taken up on Thursday . On February 16, 2016, Dr B Anand issued a certificate saying Ramachandran, an agricultural worker who met with an accident on April 11, 2010, had suffered hip fracture with severe loss of blood.

He also said the accident caused his death because injuries to the abdomen aggravated the wound caused by a previous surgery .
During cross-examination, he told the court he did not treat Ramachandran but issued the certificate after checking him. He worked in Perambalur hospital in 2010 and was moved to Vedaranyam in 2013. During another cross-examination, he said he wrote the certificate based on Ramachandran's medical reports. But Ramachandran had died on February 9, 2011.

Ramachandran and his family were travelling in a van when it met with an accident on Chennai-Kumbakonam Main Road in April 2010. Ramachandran moved a tribunal, seeking `4 lakh saying the driver's negligent driving caused the accident in which he broke the right thigh and injured the left foot and neck.

During the pendency of the application, Ramachandran died and his family enhanced compensation claim to `7.5 lakh. The New India Assurance Co. Ltd, a respondent, said Ramachandran suffered simple injuries that did not cause his death.
Holding there was nothing to disprove negligent driving, the court wondered how the doctor could have seen Ramachandran on February 16, 2016, when he died on February 9, 2011.


Pointing out that Ramachandran did not state anything about hip injury in FIR, and that doctors who treated him too were silent about it, the court concluded his evidence was false. Dismissing Ramachandran's petition, the magistrate flayed Dr Anand for issuing a false certificate and giving false evidence.