YEH MERA INDIA

Sakaala without Kaala, 'In time' never in Time

Bengalooru: About ten months ago, Sumalatha D had sustained serious injuries in an accident. The money spent on her treatment in a private hospital was to be reimbursed by the Employees State Insurance (ESI).

But the reimbursement remains a distant dream till date. She took refuge under the Guarantee of Service to Citizens (GSC) scheme (Sakaala) to know the status of her application. That has not worked, even after eight months.

Sumalatha’s case shows how the Sakkala scheme has became another white elephant, courtesy of the corrupt officialdom.

In April 2015, she met with a road accident and was rushed to Hosmat Hospital. She underwent many tests and surgery in the hospital and she had to foot a bill of Rs 95,000. Sumalatha says, “Once I was discharged from the hospital, I submitted the bills to the ESI for reimbursement.” Every month she and her husband D Srinivas have been going to the ESI office to check the status, only to be told by the staff to check the notice board.

Finally, they decided to try Sakaala, on a suggestion by social activist Kalidas Reddy. On doing so, officials did not give them the computer-generated slip with a code number. Instead, they just signed on the application and returned it on May 6, 2015.

Sakaala mandates that the service should be provided within seven days, failing which the official concerned will have to pay a penalty which escalates with each passing day. Since the slip was not generated, nobody in the administration knew that a poor woman had applied for reimbursement.

Reddy filed an RTI application on December 28, 2015, on whether ESI has been exempted from Sakkala, order copy of exemption if it is exempted, status of Sumalatha’s claim for reimbursement, certified copy of the written claim, details of the file movement, time limit for processing the claim and the procedure followed by ESI for reimbursement cases.

“I have not received any information even after 44 days of filing the RTI application. The first appeal too has not fetched any response,” said Reddy.

The activist say officials are out to kill the Sakaala scheme because it minimizes corruption. “An effective implementation of Sakaala will curb bribery in the departments substantially, which the officials have ulterior motives to extract money from the person who has already undergone trauma,” he said.

The case affirms the claim by Santosh Nargund of Rashtrotthan Sankalp and Sakaala Watch, who claimed in his report on Sakaala four days ago: “Four years after Sakaala was launched, the hopes of citizen to avail services from the government without running from pillar to post and without paying a bribe still remain a dream.” 

Lack of mask leads to death

Mumbai: Following the death of a sweeper at Sewri Tuberculosis (TB) hospital in the last week of February, the workers union claims that the hospital doesn’t have enough stock of N95 masks, posing a threat to workers.

However, the hospital administration has brushed aside the allegations and stated that the hospital has a stock of 30,000 N95 masks, enough to last for the next three months.

Santosh Kamble, (28) who was working as a sweeper at the hospital contracted TB in July last year, following which his treatment was immediately started at KEM Hospital. Pradeep Narkar, secretary of the Municipal Mazdoor Union said, “This is the first casualty at TB hospital this year whereas last year, the hospital had reported four deaths of sweepers.

150/200 MPs absented budget session

New Delhi : Over one-fourth of the MPs gave a miss to the budget session of the Lok Sabha so far. The data put on the Lok Sabha website shows that on an average 144 MPs did not sign the attendance register during the first nine days of session as against the total 544 members in the House.

The current session began on February 23 and continues till May 23, with a recess in between from March 17 to April 24. The MPs are supposed to sign the attendance registers kept in the lobbies to draw daily allowance of Rs 2,000 per day during the session.

The data worked out on the basis of the attendance registers may not be accurate on the absentee MPs as some may not have signed. For instance, many ministers did not sign and they include not only Prime Minister Narendra Modi but also ministers like Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj and Nitin Gadkari.

Most women in India lack Vitamin D

Mumbai: A report released by Metropolis Healthcare on women’s health has revealed that over 79% of the women aged between 20 and 60 years, who were analysed for Vitamin D, reported deficiency and insufficiency of Vitamin D. The other health conditions which were prevalent among women were anemia, high cholesterol, hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism, diabetes, and vitamin B12 deficiency.

Metropolis Healthcare tested samples of all the women aged between 20-60 years who visited the facility in the last year. The objective of the survey was to make women aware of their underlying conditions which often are unreported and unidentified.  The report revealed that 58% of the women analysed for Hemoglobin reported Anemia, 36% of the women reported borderline or high cholesterol.

Of the women who underwent HbA1C testing, 54% were found to be diabetic, 1% of all samples tested positive for Hyperthyroidism and 23% of samples tested positive for Hypothyroidism and around 14.81% of women in the age group of 20-60 years, out of the sample size of 11027 samples analysed by Metropolis are Vitamin B12 deficient.

Dr Sonali Kolte, general manager of Metropolis Healthcare said, “All the conditions are co-related and even one health ailment can give rise to the others. Vitamin D deficiency which is highly prevalent among women can lead to other major illnesses as it is crucial for making your bones strong and it helps in fighting infections. If even one thing goes wrong in your body, it directly affects the other part. Following the survey, we are following up with these women and have asked them to get their treatment started for which we will be helping and guiding them. The treatment cost depends on the severity of their condition and the medications provided to them but we ensure that it is affordable.”

On World Women’s Day

MENDING LIFE: Alka Ahire’s (45) fingers and needle continue working at the same pace while she loops the thread in and out to fix the broken strap of a sandal at her small footwear repairing stall in Bhayandar. After her husband’s sudden demise 22 years ago a determined Ahire learnt cobbling (traditionally a male occupation) and plied the trade to support her four young children. It’s been more than two decades she’s polishing/mending footwear and even repairing umbrellas and bags in addition to taking care of household chores.

JUICE OF LABOUR: 18-year-old Sonu Manek Ghurke who has travelled all the way from Pathardi village in Ahmednagar district with her parents is seen toiling away, extracting sugarcane juice under the scorching sun to quench the thirst of people lined in front of their wooden hand cart in Mira Road. While the juice might just be a drink, it beats the heat with a human touch given by young Sonu who though unaware of Women''s Day, is particular to ensure that the crush or glasses were not littered.

BALANCING ACT: Life is a tight rope walk, both symbolically and factually for 12-year-old Titli (assumed name) who was spotted performing to the drum beats of her mother at Khau Galli in Bhayandar. Her mother (aged around 40 years) was using a stainless steel plate and a stick to compensate the absence of a cymbal, as a teenage boy (apparently her elder brother) stood guard at one end of the rope tied to a hook hammered to the ground.