Social work
Food for thought: in hospital, on empty stomach
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Diet Denied: Vikram at the male ortho ward of Government Multi-Speciality Hospital, Sector 16, Chandigarh, on Thursday. — Tribune photo by Manoj Mahajan
Chandigarh, November 23 2006
His determination to survive has been flattened by the apathetic attitude of the Government Multi-Speciality Hospital, Sector 16. Twentythree-year-old Vikram has managed to wade through the worst crisis in life, but the unwillingness of the hospital authorities to provide him daily diet has traumatised the boy.
His determination to survive has been flattened by the apathetic attitude of the Government Multi-Speciality Hospital, Sector 16. Twentythree-year-old Vikram has managed to wade through the worst crisis in life, but the unwillingness of the hospital authorities to provide him daily diet has traumatised the boy.
Discarded by his father Punji Ram after the death of his mother in childhood, the woes of Vikram seem to be never-ending. Hailing from Ramshila in Kulu district of Himachal Pradesh, his both legs were fractured after falling from the third storey of a guest house in Ludhiana, where he was hired for some construction work.
Seeking mercy of certain gentlemen, Vikram virtually crawled his way from Ludhiana to Chandigarh and managed to reach the Government Multi-Specialty Hospital (GMSH), Sector 16, on November 17. His ordeal was compounded at the hospital after the authorities discontinued his diet on Wednesday afternoon.
High drama was witnessed at the male ortho wards of the GMSH this morning when some attendants of patients in the ward assembled and objected to the discontinuation of his diet. The doctors and the attendants had an altercation over the issue and subsequently, certain attendants informed mediapersons.
Narrating this sequence of his woes, Vikram said after the accident, he found himself at the Ludhiana busstand on regaining conscious. “I was unable to stand on my legs and I sought help from a Sikh. He purchased a ticket for me to Chandigarh and helped me in boarding the bus,” he recalled.
“Since I was unable to stand, a passenger helped me in getting down the bus at Chandigarh. I crawled to the local bus stand and passed three days without having any food. A group of college students dropped me at the General Hospital, Sector 16, for treatment,” claimed Vikram.
Security guards at the hospital proved helping hands for him and Vikram was admitted to the male ortho ward. The doctors, after scanning his legs, plastered those for his fractures.
Since there was nobody to look after Vikram, Mr Prakash Chand and his wife Raj Bala, attending on their son at the same ward, stood by him and even arranged fruits and eatables for him.
Mr Mansa Ram Ahuja from the Jeewan Mukta Nishulka Vidyalaya, a Panchkula-based charitable organisation, came to the rescue of the boy and took him along. The boy was adopted by Ms Bala Bajaj, a resident of 960, Sector 16, Panchkula this evening.
The medical superintendent of the Government Multi-Speciality Hospital, Dr Usha Bishnoi Kapoor, refused to talk to the correspondent on the issue, saying she was busy in clearing some official files.
Dr MS Bains, director, Health Services, Chandigarh, was not available for comments, being busy in some meeting.
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20061124/cth1.htm
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Homeless, pennyless old man braves winter chill Ruchika M. Khanna
Tribune News Service
Tribune News Service
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Homeless, pennyless old man Panchkula, December 20, 2005Even the bright sun shining down this December morning failed to bring warmth in the life of 70-year-old Kanshi Ram. Shivering in the verandah of a shop in Sector 9 here, he cried over the loss of his only worldly possessions- a blanket, two shirts and a pair of socks. The bag containing his meagre possessions was stolen last evening.
Having spent all night shivering in the cold, with mercury dipping to 4.6 degrees last night, Kanshi Ram was found in a semi-conscious state by office bearers of an NGO — Jeevan Mukt Nishulk Vidyalaya, when they went to the temple to pay obeisance.
After having fed him warm milk and some warm breakfast, the good samaritans thought that they would admit him to the Old Age Home being run by the district administration in Sector 15 here.
Little did Mr Mansa Ram Ahuja and Mr R.S. Jain, from the Jeevan Mukt Nishulk Vidyalaya, realise that they had planned for the near impossible.
Red tapism in District Red Cross Society-run Old Age Home, Sector 15, ensured that he could not be admitted, on the pretext that the facility was not for homeless, but for senior citizens who did not have anybody to look after them.
Incidentally, Kanshi Ram belongs to Vikas Nagar in Dehra Dun, and had come here for medical aid two years ago.
He had lost his entire family — wife, sister and parents a year before he came to Chandigarh.
“I had no one to go back to, so I decided to stay on in Chandigarh. I had already sold off my shop in Vikas Nagar to bear the medical expenses for getting treatment for enlargement of prostrate gland.
While my treatment was on, I stayed in shelter provided by some voluntary organisations,” he said.
For the past one week, Kanshi Ram was staying outside the temple in Sector 9. He was allowed by the temple management to sleep inside the gaurd’s room at night, but the gaurd, unhappy with the intrusion, allegedly threw him out two days ago. Since then, he was sleeping on the roadside.
The old age home officials also demanded a ration card, a proof of residence, a health certificate and a character certificate by a Municipal Councillor, saying that all these were mandatory before allowing admission in the home. Said Mr M.R. Ahuja,” How can an aged homeless person provide all these documents.
These formalities can be avoided if the Red Cropss Society wants to serve the community,” he said.
It may be mentioned that the old age home here was built almost two years ago spending lakhs of rupees. But till date, there is not a single admission there.
Even as the Old Age Home officials expressed helplessness over admitting him, many street vendors in the area decided to chip in to bring some relief to the old man.
While Chottel Lal, a groundnut seller, gave him a blanket, fruit seller Harbhajan Singh gave him some food. By the afternoon, it was brought to the notice of the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Brijendra Singh, who immediately ordered that Kanshi Ram be admitted in the Old Age Home, and looked after properly.
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2005/20051221/cth1.htm#12
A nurse tries to talk to Pooja, who was abandoned by her brother on Monday.
Tribune News Service
Panchkula, July 12
Panchkula, July 12
She stares into nothingness for hours together. The pain in her huge eyes, set in the pale face, is apparent the moment you look at her. In a state of shock, she would not even know that you have called her several times, unless you shake her out of her shell. But ask her about her family, and the eight-year-old girl breaks down and is inconsolable.
The little girl, who says that her name is Pooja, was abandoned by her brother last night. Her parents died a few years ago, and she had been staying with her brother in a jhuggi in Sector 15.
According to Pooja, her brother, whose name she does not reveal, was without work for quite some time. Yesterday, he took her on a rickshaw, on the plea of taking her to the market in Sector 15. Once they reached the Raghunath Mandir, Sector 15, he took her inside and then quietly disappeared.
After waiting for him for quite some time, she got panicky and started crying. A few devotees at the temple saw the child crying inconsolably, and tried to pacify her. It was then that Mr Mansa Ram Ahuja, a social worker, approached the child and tried to ask her about her family. The girl told him that she was not keeping well and that her brother had deserted her.
Since the girl had an injury on her foot and was weak because of malnutrition, he took her to General Hospital, Sector 6. The girl is now undergoing treatment here, but is unable to tell her brother’s name or where they were staying.
Doctors attending on her say that she is weak and after receiving medical aid, she will be shifted to Bal Sadan in Sector 15
The little girl, who says that her name is Pooja, was abandoned by her brother last night. Her parents died a few years ago, and she had been staying with her brother in a jhuggi in Sector 15.
According to Pooja, her brother, whose name she does not reveal, was without work for quite some time. Yesterday, he took her on a rickshaw, on the plea of taking her to the market in Sector 15. Once they reached the Raghunath Mandir, Sector 15, he took her inside and then quietly disappeared.
After waiting for him for quite some time, she got panicky and started crying. A few devotees at the temple saw the child crying inconsolably, and tried to pacify her. It was then that Mr Mansa Ram Ahuja, a social worker, approached the child and tried to ask her about her family. The girl told him that she was not keeping well and that her brother had deserted her.
Since the girl had an injury on her foot and was weak because of malnutrition, he took her to General Hospital, Sector 6. The girl is now undergoing treatment here, but is unable to tell her brother’s name or where they were staying.
Doctors attending on her say that she is weak and after receiving medical aid, she will be shifted to Bal Sadan in Sector 15
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