Round The States

New Delhi, 6 August 2009

Swine Flu Death

STATES ON HIGH ALERT

By Insaf

All States have been put on high alert following the country’s first swine flu casualty in Pune, causing widespread panic. The death of 14-year-old Rashida Shaikh has not only forced the Maharashtra Government to declare a swine flu epidemic in two districts—Pune and Satara, but has made the Union Health Ministry wake up from its slumber. The latter has issued fresh guideline to prevent further spread of the disease following long queues of people thronging designated hospitals for a check-up. Not only in Pune, but also in Delhi and Chennai The panic has come to such a pass that even those who suffer from just a sniffle do not want to take any chances. Shockingly, a TV expose has bared the truth about some States’ lack of preparedness in dealing with this deadly disease: In Patna, the designated Centre was locked, in Chennai the doctors at the hospital were clueless about treatment and in Delhi there were no signboards to direct patients to the separate screening centres earmarked for the H1N1 strain. 

Clearly, the fault rests at the Health Ministry’s doorstep as it treated the swine flu issue very casually. Not only have people not been educated on the virus and the preventive measures to be taken, but the health authorities approach has been lackadaisical. At the immigration section of the International Airport on Tuesday last, Insaf found that there were only two doctors present, basically collecting forms from passengers about their travel details and whether they had a cough or cold. They didn’t take the trouble to even question the passengers, leave aside undertake a check-up! The big question is: Are the fresh guidelines issued now enough? In a major departure from the earlier procedure, the Ministry has said that people showing mild signs of swine flu — cold, cough, fever etc would no longer be quarantined in designated hospitals till their sample results are known. They could go home. In effect, hoping that people would not fear getting tested. Are the hospitals geared to take the pressure?   

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Political Warfare In Himachal

Himachal Pradesh is in the throes of a political warfare between the ruling BJP and the Congress. The State Government has lodged a corruption case against Union Steel Minister and five-time Congress Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and his wife, Pratibha Singh, former Congress MP. The “evidence” -- a two-decade old audio recording which allegedly contains the Singhs’ conversation with a retired bureaucrat, now dead, about money transactions. It’s an act of “political vendetta”, responds Singh, while Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal rubbishes it on grounds that the voice in the CD is confirmed by the Central Forensic Science Laboratory. Interestingly, the said CD was released by Virbhadra’s friend-turned-foe former Minister Vijay Singh Mankotia way back in May 2007. Even as the top leaders battle it out, Congress workers in Shimla are gearing up for the fight and lodge protests for the “frivolous” charges and the BJP is all set to go on the offensive on the issue of corruption. Will the law take its own course? 

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Imphal on The Boil

Fake encounters have now set Manipur’s Imphal on fire. The Capital in this North-eastern State has been put under indefinite curfew following widespread violence, leaving 40 protestors injured in clashes with the police. The protests erupted after a Delhi weekly carried photographs showing a former People’s Liberation Army (PLA) militant, ostensibly killed in a police encounter, unarmed.  Leading the protestors to surmise that he was killed in cold blood. Worse, a pregnant woman too was killed in an alleged fake encounter. As a result of the protests, normal life has been disrupted for the past 48 hours, with shops and business establishments closed and transport services between Manipur and neighbouring States cancelled. To prevent the protests from spilling to adjoining areas, Chief Minister Ibobi Singh has ordered a judicial probe by a sitting judge of the Gauhati High Court. Will this suffice?

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Assam Cong Upbeat

The Congress in Assam has reason to be upbeat. It has won the municipal elections with a thumping majority in the State. The Party, under Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, outshone its rivals by huge margins. It won 408 seats as against Asom Gana Parishad’s 87 and BJP’s 59 tally. Importantly, the State Election Commission statistics show that the while the Congress won a majority in 20 municipal committees, the AGP and the BJP managed to do so only in one each. In town committees too, the Congress was way ahead of its competitors, reposing its confidence of “people’s acceptability” after the Lok Sabha poll, wherein it had got one seat less than its 2004 tally. Both the AGP and BJP have reason to be worried, not only for the drubbing they got but the fact that even the Independents’ tally of 89 was better than theirs!

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Maharashtra’s Dalit Plan

Maharashtra will take the lead in curbing atrocities strictly against Dalits, if its recent decision is effectively implemented and yields desired results. Early this week, the State Government resolved to invoke tough provisions of the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989, and fine an entire village if an atrocity is reported from there. This apart, the Administration could hold back the development funds of the village. The decision follows statistics revealing a steady increase in the number of atrocities against the SCs:  from 689 in 2004 to 844 in 2005, 1,001 in 2006 and 1,173 in 2008. Atrocities against STs, too ranged between 233 and 286 during the same period. While the villages will form their own vigilance committees, the District Magistrates have been asked to implement the provisions strictly. With the State having the second largest Dalit population after Uttar Pradesh, will BSP supremo Mayawati follow suit instead of building statues only? 

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 States Review 3-tier Education System

The Human Resource Development Ministry’s proposal to set up educational tribunals may require some reworking, as the Bill is currently being examined by the States. While initial reactions from States to the concept of tribunals have been positive, there appears to be some disagreement over the three-tier system. At the bottom of this structure is the district educational tribunal, which envisages a tribunal in each district, so that complaints from the area can be heard. Few States, including Gujarat and Orissa have objected to this district tribunal on grounds that there won’t be enough work to merit a separate body. This is so because each higher education institution is supposed to have a grievance redressal mechanism as it is and the district tribunal may be superfluous. Instead, a two-tier system would suffice.---INFA