The Weekly
Observer Volume 14 | Issue 15
Thursday, December 4, 2014
State health bosses to probe BPL patients scam Suharika Rachavelpula
EXCLUSIVE Government schemes to provide free health care to the poor are not being implemented in hospitals across the city. There are 96,65,747 below poverty line (BPL) card holders in Karnataka and they should be treated for free at government hospitals, under a raft of much publicized schemes. A below poverty Line citizen is issued a BPL Ration Card by the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer affairs Department of Karnataka Government. That should entitle them to a wide array of discounts on food, drinks, medicines and hospital care. Various government hospitals across the state have been notified of these schemes but few are giving patients the option and most de-
mand payment, in spite of funding being made available by state government. At two different hospitals in the city, patients who showed their BPL cards said they had been asked to pay for medical procedures that should have been covered by government schemes. In one case, a proud father of a newborn baby had to pay Rs. 2000 to nurses and doctors. The cost of delivering his daughter should have been borne by the state. Under schemes like Aarogyasri, Yashshwini and Janani Surksha Yojana, serious illness and pregnant patients should get free treatment and services. Every pregnant woman coming for a routine checkup at the dispensary is entitled to Rs. 1000 every three months by the government under the Janani Suraksha Yojana scheme. Prakash, husband of Vijayalakshmi, who delivered their daughter
six days ago, said: “I have a BPL card and I get my wife checked up every three months in the government dispensary near T.R Mill, near Mysore road. My wife should get Rs. 1000 every three months, but they have not given any amount.” He added: “My baby girl is six days old now. The authorities say that the government has not given the money. There are many patients whom we met in the dispensary service who have not got their scheme money." K.N. Kadarappa, whose daughter had undergone a C- section delivery operation at Victoria Hospital said, “I paid Rs1000 each to the doctor and the nurses after the delivery of my grandchild.” He added that he gave the money with pleasure without any demand from them. Selvi, who recently had an operation, said, “We have BPL cards but we paid around Rs.1000 for all the tests.”
Health Minister, U.T. Khader Managers at Bowring & Lady Curzon Hospital say they don't provide blood scans services in the hospital - something else that should be covered by the schemes for BPL patients. The spokesman, Khaja Mohideen, said, “There is no blood scanning section in this hospital.” Janani Suraksha Yojna was introduced by ex-PM, Manmohan Singh on 12 April, 2005, to encourage pregnant women to get health check-ups. The government gives Rs.1000 for every trimester. The women get delivery procedures, either C-section or normal delivery, free. A spokesman for Health Minister, U.T. Khader, said that the minister was concerned by our story and added that his department would “look into it” as a matter of urgency.
BPL patients outside Victoria Hospital near K.R. Market
He declined to comment further. According to the government schemes, the hospitals are provided with funds to maintain the facilities and services that have to be provided free for the BPL card holders. The government hospitals are not following them. They refuse to comment on how the funds are being used. Nobody at the hospitals we visited was prepared to comment on the record about charging BPL patients for services that should be free. Recently, hospitals across the state lobbied government about the schemes, claiming that they were open to abuse and that some patients were turning up in Mercedes jeeps, flashing BPL cards and getting treatment free.
Complaints flood in over new water contract award Sreemoyee Chatterjee A private water supply company has won a second multi crore state contract amid corruption claims and water prices rising tenfold. The Rs161 crore water project awarded to JUSCO, the Jamshedpur Utility and Supply Company, flies in the face of thousands of complaints from Mysore residents that the com-
pany has failed dismally to provide what they said they would in the original contract. Mysore residents blame Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for the awarding of the second contract and claim he has failed to listen to the people directly affected by the poor performance of JUSCO. P.V. Nanjaraj Urs, a retired professor and social worker who is leading the protest group, said, “The imposition of a penalty fine of Rs
2.5 crore on JUSCO on grounds of malfunctioning was just eye-wash. The Urban Development Minister, Suresh Kumar, informed me that ministers, MLAs and the son of a former Chief Minister took the decision to sign the new contract regardless.” He claimed, “We know that 65 corporators of Mysore City Corporation (MCC) were flown by JUSCO in private jets, treated as royal guests and were given gift packs."
Nanjaraj added: “Someone visited me personally to hand me a blank cheque. He also produced a sheet with the names of several eminent people of Mysore who he claimed have already given their support to the company.” Kargal Bhograj, the coordinator of the Centre for Informal Education and Development Studies, (CIEDS) said: “The ministers, corporators, MPs and MLAs have from 2008 been dealing with JUSCO and
have just awarded investment of Rs. 161.90 crore for another six years. “The first contract in 2008 promised a 24-hour water supply throughout the week, proportionate distribution of Kaveri water to 1.7 lakh households and laying adequate pipelines ensuring connectivity. That did not happen. In spite of that Siddaramaiah signed the second contract.”
(Continued on page 4)
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Pierced with iron rods and bled in the name of ‘God’ Elizabeth Mani An NGO working for the devdasi community has rescued over 700 women who were tortured in the name of blind faith and superstition. The devadasi system is a religious practice implemented in south India where parents marry a daughter to a deity or a temple. These women then become prostitutes for upper-class community men and are forbidden from marrying. Vimuchana Sanga, the NGO, started a campaign from December 1 to bring in an act that would deal with the activities that happen with devdasi women all over Karnataka justified by faith. The activists, to spread the campaign and help more such women, are going to Kolar, Mangalore, Mysore and Bidar in vans. There are four such vans with 12 activists each. Ranthnamma, 30, who was rescued by the NGO, said, “I became a devdasi when I was 16 years old. I did not know what was happening
Protest at Town Hall agaisnt superstitious beliefs on Thursday attended by Swamiji Veerabhadra Chennamalla to me when they took me there,” she added. Every year around 15 women participate in a ritual from all over Karnataka which begins with these women being taken to Kunchur Grama for a three day long ritual. On the first day, all women are fed properly the whole day. On the second day, these women
are asked to fast for the whole day and on the last day of the ritual, the priest of the temple comes to do the prayers after which the women have to walk a distance of one kilometre to the Kariyamma Temple where they are tied to poles. After being tied, a small, sharp iron rod is inserted in their backs so that they do not fall over because
‘Killing birds is the best way to prevent bird flu,’ says doctor Samreen Tungekar Sharangee Dutta In the wake of bird flu in Kerala, Resident Medical Officer of Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital said that it can enter Karnataka easily as it is an air-borne disease. Dr. M.V Prasanna Kumar, RMO (Resident Medical Officer), added
bird flu have come to Bowring hospital yet. In case they get any cases, they will send them to Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Sciences (RGICD), which is the epicenter of bird flu treatment in Bangalore. He said that the institute has two separate wards to treat bird flu patients. “They keep them isolated and treat routinely until they get cured,” he added.
He said,” When a patient goes to Rajiv Gandhi Institute, the doctors check them thoroughly and decide if they have bird flu or not.” He added that the infected patients are given an anti-viral medicine namely, ‘Tamiflu’ every morning and night each day to cure the disease. “If the condition worsens then we shift the patient to ICU and take
Resident Medical Officer of Bowring Hospital, Dr.M.V Prasanna Kumar that killing of birds, mainly chickens is the ‘best’ preventive way to stop the disease from spreading. Kerala has adopted that and he believes there is no harm in that when it can save many lives. “It’s the best preventive measure to stop the disease because people eat those chickens and get infected with the virus. Hence, I think Kerala is doing right by killing the birds,” he added. According to him, no cases of
He spoke about the symptoms of the flu and said that sore throat, fever, cold and cough are the common symptoms. “However, every throat pain or fever isn’t a symptom of bird flu. People tend to hype and panic a lot,” he added. For precautions, he suggested that one should wash their hands preferably with warm water before eating, avoid consuming fried foods, and wear mask while taking precautions for bird flu.
high care. The institute is open 24 hours,” he added. However, when RGICD was contacted, the officials said that they have no clue about any bird flu scare in Karnataka or Bangalore. Chandrasekhar Raut, medical officer, National Institute of Virology said: "Bird flu has not affected human in India so far, but we are traumatised because there have been incidents in other countries."
of the pain. After this the rods are removed and the devdasis have to walk around the pole three times to complete the ritual. “I felt very bad when I was tied to the pole but I could not tell anyone about this,” said Ranthnamma. “I feel sorry for my three children. I do not know who their
father is,” she added. She is now working as a teacher in Kannada Hiriya Pathtameekta Pathashale, a government school in Kunchur Grama. She was sent to the temple because according to the tradition, “a family which does not have a man has to sacrifice one of its daughters to the temple and become a devdasi,” said Hangnalamma, mother of Ranthnalamma. Thottagi, Manager of Vimuchana Sanga said, “We have rehabilitated 750 devdasis till now.” “When there is a tradition like this and many others which exist, everyone will take women for granted,” said Renukamma, another activist working with the NGO. A 20-year-old girl was also rescued from the same temple three months ago. The campaign is supposed to end on December 6 at the Belagavi Cemetery and around 10,000 people are expected to participate in it.
Tweets of the day @tinucherian: Probably for the first time, China says PoK region 'part of Pakistan'. Hail the "improved diplomatic relations" by the new Government.
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@scroll_in: Chronicler of bygone Bangalore brings Mumbai's past alive in quirky sketches. http://bit.ly/1vO@narendramodi: May Justice Krishna QErC Iyer's soul attain @bibekdebroy: eternal peace. My Remember Paul thoughts are with Meekin? Bangalore his family during this moment of im- paedophile principal now in Kuwait mense sadness. school @news_bangalore: http://www.firstBangalore Club bar post.com/india/relicence cancelled - member-paul-meek in-bangalore-paeTimes of India dophile-principal#Bangalore http://www.newslo found-in-dubai-183 cker.com/en-in/re- 1965.html gion/bangalore/ban
Thursday, December 4, 2014
The Weekly Observer
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International ‘scam’ busted claim city cops Asmita Kundu Divya Kishore Bangalore police claim they have busted an international gang of fraudsters after a daylight raid at a city hotel. After receiving a complaint from an unidentified source, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) and the Central Crime Branch (CCB) took immediate a c t i o n . The Capitol Hotel was raided where the accused were caught red-handed in an illegal fraud network. Abhishek Goyal, DCP Crime said, “The CCB officials barged into the room and found the accused to be wooing new victims and collecting enrolment fees from them in the name of Yobsn Social Media Network MLM which is found out to be a fraud web based company.” He added, “The accused were, Denise Driver, 52, a New Zealand national and the Asia-Pacific Head of the US based social media network, Mohd Kurram (44), Kiran Modi (39) and Hithesh Modi (42).” “They were arrested and booked under section 3,4,5 of the Prize Chits and Money Circulation Scheme (ban) Act and 420 Indian Penal Code,”he added. He continued, “They lured the victims by promising big money in U.S dollars and also encouraged them to bring more members to forge more money.” The motto of this group was to include more members in this scheme and collect membership fees from them. According to CCB reports, membership costs varied from Rs.8000 to Rs.25,000. The existing members get their commission when they help the MLM to obtain new members and increase their roots. The existing members were paid 25% bonus as commission for every new joining member. The CCB investig ated the given documents and found that a total of 32,339 members across the world and a total sum of around Rupee fifty crore were collected as enrolment charge. The Police have also proposed actions against Hotel Capital for not sending for m C to Foreigners Regional registration office(FRRO) and abetting the accused.
(L-R): Hithesh Modi, Kiran Modi, Denise Driver and Mohd Kurram, the four accused who have been arrested
The Capitol, the hotel on Raj Bhavan Road where the raid took place
An enrolment web page operated by the accused
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Thursday, December 4, 2014
The Weekly Observer
News Digest Ta x i F o r S u r e launched its ‘Nano Taxi Service' in Bengaluru today adding 100 Tata Nanos to its existing fleet. These vehicles are equipped with GPS which can be booked via their app.
Protestors outside Town Hall
Government turns deaf ear to filed petition (Continued from page 1) Sreemoyee Chatterjee The first tender agreement signed among the Executive Engineer, Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board, JN-NURM, City Division Mysore (East Zone), Mysore City Corporation and JUSCO on November 28, 2008 promised to provide ‘Integrated Management Information System (IMIS), to transform the existent intermittent water supply to continuous pressurized 24x7 water supply including Operation and Maintenance in East Zone at Mysore city under JN-NURM’ at the cost of Rs. 74, 90, 00,000. For the West Zone, the tender agreement was signed with the same promises for Rs. 86, 99, 98, 600. “The financially backward residents that form the majority of Mysore's population are compelled to bear an excessively increased tariff of Rs. 500 per month as against Rs. 50 to Rs. 100 per month during the functioning of Vani Vilas, the government water supplying body. There has been a ten times increase in tariff from government water supply to private." According to the terms of the contract, old, worn out pipes should be replaced by good quality HDPE pipes, houses installing new water meters should be provided with smooth water supply, JUSCO should not have the power to take any administrative decisions and the charges for new connection should not be higher than the existing charges. But these conditions have never been followed since 2008.
Venkat (name changed), a local protestor, said: “JUSCO cut the water supply to my neighbor’s house due to his delay of paying the charge for a month, although it has not got the authority to do so under the contract. Most of the houses in Mysore do not get proper supply service even after installing new water meters.” According to the terms of the first contract, every house with new water meters is ‘guaranteed for performance for the contract period and also for a further period of one year up to December, 2014.’ Several houses have not had proper water supply since last September in spite of installing water meters under the contract, according to residents. Bhograj, a convener of the Mysore protest campaign said: “JUSCO has proved to be technically inefficient as a water supplier throughout the period of its first contract. In spite of that how can the government award a second contract to the same company, that too before the end of the first term? No government official has the answer. All our petitions, appeals and protests went in vain. “Over one lakh people signed the petition last March and it was produced to the Chief Minister in Bangalore.” Despite the filing of Public Interest Litigation (PIL) by Peoples’ Campaign for Right to Water in Karnataka, there has been no improvement in the process of water supply in Mysore. Bhograj said, “The PIL was filed against the privatization of water as we all know that water is a natural resource and every citizen has the right of access to water, free of cost.”
Australia will be playing with only 10 men against India in the first test match starting on 9th December as Phil Hughes will be considered as part of the playing XI. A 10-year-old girl in Bangalore allegedly committed suicide by setting herself on fire on Monday, when she was alone at home.
Professor Nanjaraj Urs, the social activist who deals with Peoples’ Campaign for Right to Water in Karnataka The Chief Executive Engineer of Mysore Urban Water Supply Board said, “We do not receive any complaints regarding poor supply of water from the residents. How come the outsiders are aware of such fake problems when the locals are not? “The Chief Minister is sensible enough to take the right decision. We are no one to question him and his decision at all." Nanjaraj, who is a resident of Mysore, said: “The corporators and other officials in Mysore are shameless. They only express their opin-
ions which are lies. We lodged over 12000 complaints a day and yet they did not pay any heed to us.” The Chief Minister's office declined to comment when we contacted them. The Secretary to the Chief Minister’s Media Advisor said: “Why do you have to deal with such serious stories? Go and cover some entertaining stuffs.” Rajiv Bahadur, DGM of H.R. Department, JUSCO said, “We are not authorized to comment on this issue.”
The Bengaluru International Film Festival was inaugurated today at Dr B.R. Ambedkar Bhavan. Subhash Ghai, a national award winning film director, producer; Govind Nihalni, film director, Cinematographer, producerand Suhashini Manirathnam, a south Indian actress were some of the guests.
OBSERVER Team : Editor - Sharangee Dutta, Chief Sub Editor - Samreen Tungekar, News Editor - Sreemoyee Chatterjee, News Desk - Vignesh S.G, Sub Editors - Raya Ghosh, Ridhi Agrawal, C.L. Ramakrishnan, Design Head - Subash Aravindh, Design Desk - Saheli Sen Gupta, Picture Editor Soumya Chatterjee, Proofreader - Sameer Deshpande, Suharika Rachavelpula