Issue 2

No working ventilators at govt neo-natal unit

BRIEFS City cops face problems due to staff shortage A staggering 37 per cent of the sanctioned staff posts in Sheshadripuram police station and its three sub-stations are lying vacant.

Page 2 Domestic violence victims seek justice at Parihar family counselling centre Bengaluru City Police’s family counselling centre, Parihar, has seen an increase in the number of women’s complaints in the last two years.

Page 2 State’s first skin bank is going to benefit the poor Three premature babies share a warmer at Van Vilas government hospital but the machine is designed to treat one baby at a time

EXCLUSIVE Sanskriti Talwar

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ight ventilators at a government neo-natal intensive care ward are not working and babies are being crammed under warmers as they do not have enough equipment, according to worried staff.

Doctors at two hospitals have warned the shortages are endangering the lives of infants.

Radiant warmers, medical devices designed to regulate the body temperature of a new-born premature baby, lie broken and discarded at Van Vilas Hospital in the city.

The remaining warmers, designed to treat one baby at a time, are being used to treat three infants.

At Bowring, another government hospital none of the eight ventilators used to treat premature babies is working properly.

None of the eight ventilators at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit centre (NICU) of Bowring Hospital have been working for at least six months. Doctors

have complained about defects in flow sensors and oxygen sensors. These defects, hey say, could lead to death.

“Putting three babies together under a warmer increases the risk of cross-infection,” said Dr. Jagdish, paediatrician at Van Vilas and Bowring Hospital.

Harshita, a premature baby born on May 6, 2014 in Van Vilas Hospital, was treated at the NICU centre for about 48 days. She was born eight weeks ago weighing just 1Kg. Her parents are presently consulting a neurologist as she has been suffering from breathing issues since her birth.

“Yes we had been informed that she was suffering from breathing problems. They did X-ray scanning for brain and chest few times,” said Prashanth, Harshita’s father.

“The ventilators should deliver a percentage of oxygen, and give us the feedback, otherwise we don’t know how much it is delivering as both high and low concentrations are dangerous,” said Dr. Jagdish.

Funding is provided through

the National Health Mission( NHM), covering both rural and urban areas whereas the previous National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) was set up to cover rural areas only.

“It depends on the budget.

Companies provide ventilators on warranty, if those ventilators in Bowring hospital are still under warranty then complaint can be made,” said Dr. Vijay Kumar, Deputy Health Commissioner, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Karnataka. In addition, he said that as the education level increases, the condition will improve, especially among women.

Despite the policies sanctioned by the authorities, govt. hospitals face yet another crisis of shortage of nursing staff.

As a result, each nurse is assigned to care for six babies, which is double the number of what the policy suggests.

Issues are raised at the authority, everyday by the doctors. “At least once in a week we do remind them of problems faced by the department, but every time they only give us assurance,” said Dr. Jagdish.

In 2014-15 only 33 of the NICU centres were functioning, for which 133 inborn premature deaths and 69 outborn deaths were reported - a total of 202 deaths.

In Bangalore, Van Vilas, Indhira Gandhi Institute of Child Health, K.C. General Hospital, Jayanagar General Hospital and Bowring Hospital have NICU centres to treat premature babies, where Bowring has established NICU centre this year.

Around 450 premature babies at Van Villas and 100-150 at Bowring Hospital are admitted per month, with only 15 beds in the NICU centre of Bowring Hospital.

Lower working class people will benefit most from Victoria Hospital’s much awaited skin bank.

Page 3 Dismissed workers claim injustice A group of labourers at a Kumbalgodu based engineering firm alleged nonpayment of wages and sudden dismissal.

Page 3 Despite arrests and raids, CCRB data shows none in piracy trade The report provided by City Crime Records Bureau says that there has been no raids and arrests in 2015 in Bangalore city.

Page 4

Radiant warmer at Bowring hospital

Domestic violence victims seek justice at family counselling centre Sana Husain

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engaluru City Police’s free family counselling centre, Parihar, has seen an increase in the number of complaints over the last two years.

Reshma Begum, 29, is a security guard at Inox Cinemas in Symphony Theatre.

She is married to a 40-yearold tailor who she is trying to divorce over abuse claims.

Reshma claims she has been suffering sexual abuse for the past 12 years at the hands of her alcoholic husband.

As he never supported her in raising the family, she had to be the breadwinner. On June 26, 2014, he approached her at her workplace, abused and assaulted her and left her with a head injury, according to Reshma.

Later, she received constant acid attack threats, which made her life a living hell. Her request for a divorce from her husband was initially handled by Bangalore City Police Commissioner, after which it was referred to Parihar.

Despite five months of warnings to the husband, there was no improvement in their state of affairs. “With the help of Parihar, I just hope to achieve the divorce in a

Reshma, a victim of domestic violence

month’s time, without any legal and financial barriers,” she said.

Parihar has seen 13% more complaints related to women and children in the last two years. While 1010 cases were registered in 2013-2014, the number rose to 1140 in 2014-2015. “Earlier, counsellors used to handle both women and children welfare department,” said Sandhya Rani, a family counsellor at Parihar. “But due to increase in the complaints, in June 2015 they recruited a new counsellor to handle children’s cases separately.” Six counsellors deal with clients on a regular basis. To reach more clients, they evenly distribute cases with Spandana Rehabilitation Center, in Basawanagudi and Malleswaram area Jayalakshmi, 24, is a designer, working in Palace Guttahalli. She suffered a similar fate as Reshma’s, for six years. “My friends didn’t want to get involved in the case, as neighbours were in favour of my husband,” she said. On July 13, she filed an FIR at Vyalikal police station, but was asked to compromise with her husband and retreat.

Consequently, she ended up being hospitalized. Finally, her case was addressed by Parihar on August 17, when she called their helpline. “My husband has agreed to a counselling session tomorrow, at the centre, as decided upon,” she added.

Post-Nirbhaya rape case, there has been a spurt in the number of complaints, said Dr. Sudeshna Mukerjee, Assistant Professor of Women Studies at Bangalore University. “Women are becoming more aware and upcoming about their ordeal, which is a

The aggrieved victims waiting outside Parihar Family Counselling centre positive sign. Not only that, the media has played a crucial role in sensitizing the citizens by raising awareness about such issues.” Lifestyle, stress due to children, conflict between free-spirited women and men are potential causes of concern. According to the 2013 report of National Crime Records Bureau, the cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata have accounted for 13.0%, 6.3%, 5.5% and 4.7% respectively of the total IPC crimes reported from 53 mega cities.

“Whether the counsellors

at such centres are qualified and credible enough to handle an increase in the number of complaints is an alarmraiser,” said Dr. Mukerjee.

She explained that the nature of disposal of the cases would help one gauge the efficiency of the organization.

“No matter what the number of cases is, people either stop taking follow-up, or settle dispute within themselves,” said Rani. Parihar also provides short stay homes and rehabilitation centres for mentally stressed women, namely Abhayashrama and Mahila

Dakshata Samiti.

Jayalakshmi,24 : a victim of domestic violence

City cops face problems due to staff shortage Payal Gangishetty A staggering 37 per cent of the sanctioned staff posts in Sheshadripuram police station and its three sub-stations are lying vacant. This includes the positions of sub-inspectors, assistant sub-inspectors, head constables and constables.

The last recruitment, held in 2010, sanctioned 248 positions for constables, out of which only 165 were filled.

“Due to shortage of manpower, we are unable to solve various cases that are registered on a daily basis, and this results in the increase of crime rates,” said Sridhar Pujara, Police Inspector of Vyalikaval police station, one of the sub-stations. “Apart from this, due to frequent transfers of police officers there is an excess of workload on the remaining staff.”

The work timing for a government employee according to

Number of sanctioned and working staff in four police stations

the Labour Act is only 8-9 hours a day, but police personnel work for 14 hours or even more.

“Even after doing overtime duty we are not paid extra amount for it,” said Hanumanth Appa, Constable of Sadashivanagar, another sub-station.

“Apart from this due to heavy workload and day to day stress we are facing various health problems, not just physically but mentally too.”

“As there is only one police training academy in the state, it gets difficult to train in large numbers,” said Raghavendra Auradkar, Director General of Police for recruitment and training for Karnataka state.

He added that the recruitment

which was held in 2010 was for less number of posts primarily to fill the vacancies of civil constables.

The joint police recruitment for Karnataka and Hyderabad started last month and has received around 85,000 applications. “This is the first time

that the joint recruitment is being held based on the provisions of Article 371(J) which aims at providing holistic development in the six districts of Karnataka-Hyderabad.” said Shantha Kumar, Police Inspector for recruitments.

State’s first skin bank is going to benefit the poor Regina Gurung

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ower working class people will benefit most from Victoria Hospital’s much awaited skin bank, due to open in two months, the first of its kind in the state.

Victoria Hospital says around 190-200 burn patients come every month. The majority of them come from rural areas and most of the cases are registered as stove accidents. The treatment is free for burn victims. The charges

Burns caused due to boiling water is the most common case among children.

for the patients’ getting the external skin transplant will be either free or nominal.

The hospital has been trying to set up a skin bank in the city for over a decade. The lower basement of the building was initially considered to serve as a skin bank.

When Rotary Bangalore Midtown came forward to fund the Mahabodhi Burn Centre at Victoria Hospital with Rs60 lakh, the plan immediately swung into action. Karnataka will be one of the five major cities in India to boast this facility.

“The entire purpose of this project is to benefit the poor.

First we will see how this proposed skin bank will function and if need be, we might further this project. As of now we will focus on this skin bank which is first of its kind in Karnataka.” said Dr. Sharan Prakash, Minister of Medical Education, Karnataka.

An awareness campaign was held last month. “The campaign was a huge success with many media houses covering it. Celebrities were also present, including Kumar Bangarappa. But skin donation is not yet popular and such campaigns will continue till it gets popular,” said Dr.

Ramu, burnt on the left side, discharged from Victoria Ramesh, H.O.D of Burns and Plastic Surgery at Victoria Hospital.

There have been no volunteers so far. The skin will be taken from the deceased who donates organs with authorization and consent from nextto-kin. The skin is to be donated within six hours of death. Only those patients who have been burned 80 per

• Skin donation can take place within six hours after death.

• Anyone above 18 can donate skin irrespective of colour, blood group, sex and age. Even a person 102 years old has donated skin.

• A special instrument called Dermatome is used to harvest skin from legs, thighs and back, the entire procedure takes 30-45 minutes.

• No bleeding is witnessed when donating skin, only one-eighth of the skin’s thickness is harvested.

• People suffering from AIDS, Hepatitis B & C, Skin Cancer, STDs, and Septicemia cannot donate skin. Diabetics and people suffering from Hypertension can donate.

is a temporary donation since skin regenerates. It needs to be popular because it can save lives too. The entire process of establishing helplines and undergoing inspection is happening in the new building and we hope the burn victims, mostly poor, will benefit the most,” said Dr. Ramesh.

Dismissed workers claim injustice

FACT BOX WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT SKIN DONATION

cent or more will be given this facility.

Chaya, 25, who brought her father to the hospital, said she had not heard about skin donation but thinks it is a great initiative taken by the authorities and believes many lives will be helped. Her father is suffering from burn injuries.

“Unlike eye donation and organ donation, skin donation

• Skin is preserved in 85 per cent glycerol solution and is stored between 4 to 8 degree Celsius. The skin can be preserved up to five years.

• No payment is required. Buying and selling organs is illegal.

• Burn injuries are the second largest injuries after road accidents.

• Skin donation team consists of one doctor, two nurses and one attendant.

• A blood sample of the deceased is taken from the body and tested before proceeding.

SKIN DONATION IN INDIA • Mumbai • Pune • Nagpur • Indore

Sacked labourers of Leonardo Automation Pvt. Ltd. holding a written document of their complaint Reema Mukherjee A group of labourers at a Kumbalgodu based engineering firm has alleged non-payment of wages and sudden dismissal from employment.

Three of the ex-employees of Leonardo Automation Private Limited were spotted outside the Kumbalgodu Police Station protesting over “unjust behaviour” by management on July 23, 2015.

The workers who held written complaints said that they were issued a notice period of

one month, and yet did not receive their wages. They complained of irregular payment of wages during their tenure as workers in the organistion.

The production level workers also complained about the same issue. According to one the company is cutting down on the number of employees.

The small scale firm which has been running at a loss, is downsizing the number of employees on a regular basis.

Prakash and Boregoda, exemployees who were discharged, said that the

increased family pressure, and the mental torture is leading them to depression.

C. Munikrishna, editor of “Benki Cheerthe”, a district vernacular newspaper, was present at the scene. “The company does not inform the workers of the government schemes that come in,” said Munikrishna.

Currently, the workers await the result of the complaints lodged, meanwhile waiting for relief to come their way.

Despite police action, CCRB data shows zero arrests in Tweets piracy trade of the day

@EconomicTimes Govt. to spend over 3lk cr over 5-6 years to recast urban cities: Urban Development minister @M Venkaiah Naidu. @ndtv PM Modi’s politics of anger responsible for violence in Gujarat says Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi @SatishJha Gujarat high court orders Allahabad Police Commissioner to enquire into the assault on lawyer in #Patidar clashes, notice to stale @indianexpress @lynnmies @bangaloreconnect Smoke seen near #bengaluru Shivajinagar bus depot as waste accidentally catches fire.

A vendor selling pirated DVDs at Indiranagar, Bangalore.

Rishi Sabharwal

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here have been no arrests for movie piracy this year, according to the records with the City Crime Records Bureau (CCRB). This is contrary to media reports of pirated CDs/DVDs as well as claims made by Bangalore city police.

“Police have become strict and it keeps a strong check on illegal activities in the city,” said M. Venugopala, Additional Commissioner of Police, CCRB, when asked about the drop in the number of arrests.

Last year, 55 cases were registered and 83 arrests were made for movie piracy under the Indian Copyright Act. Although the Bangalore police conducts regular raids and arrest offenders, Bangalore is ranked among the top piracy markets in the country, along with Delhi and Mumbai. Pirated DVDs of Hollywood blockbuster Fantastic Four, which was released in India on August 21 this year, have been flooding the underground market for more than a couple of

weeks. The Josh Trank-directed movie was released in the USA earlier on August 7.

Similarly, another criticallyacclaimed Indian movie, Manjhi - The Mountain Man, which too was released on the same date as Fantastic Four, was reportedly leaked at the Censor Board Office. It is illegally avail-

able on the internet for easy download. The producers of this small budget film which promises good business are bound to suffer financially as a result. US-India Business Council and Ernst & Young in a report stated $959 million loss was incurred by the Indian film industry alone with around

Pirated DVDs of Fantastic Four were available weeks before its India release

571,896 people losing their jobs in 2008.

The city police gave a big blow to the movie piracy industry in Bangalore in the month of July this year. Central Crime Branch arrested M. Krishna Reddy, who is considered a big shot in this illicit trade, along with six other people and seized pirated CDs and DVDs worth Rs. 60 lakh.

Section 63 of Indian Copyright Act, 1967 prohibits piracy and upon complaint, police can “raid and arrest officials of the infringing company or individual and seize all evidence”.

Unemployment is one of the major reasons why some people end up doing piracy business. Ravi, 24, who hails from Odisha, is a street vendor who sells pirated DVDs in one of the busiest areas in Bangalore.

He says that selling unlicensed movie DVDs was never his choice but because of unemployment, he had to succumb to this illegitimate business. He added that before he ventured in this trade, he had also worked as a daily wager and there are many like him.

@indiatodayflash @nitishkumar is a symbol of leading a corrupt govt. Today I feel ashamed of the act of @arvindkejriwal says @yogendrayadav @htTweets @ISRO set to launch communication satellite GSAT-6 today. @indianexpress Just in: Pakistan anti-corruption court issues arrest warrant for former Prime Minister Yousuf Gilani @bangaloremirror Woman fights for 40 mins to thwart would-be rapist while most passing motorists ignored her screams. bit.ly/1Ud3IW @DCPCentralBCP Prog. held falicitation traffic PCs who toil day & night for smooth traffic... let’s ackowledge their hard work.

Observer Team: Editor: Rishi Sabharwal; News Editor: Rajarshi Das; Chief Sub-Editor: Prabhpreet Singh Sood Sub-Editors: Raina Paul, Sana Husain, Sanskriti Talwar, Reema Mukherjee, Tanay Sukumar; Picture Editor: Regina Gurung Reporter: Sutanu Guha; Design and Layout: Payal Gangishetty