Development - Alert

Jharkhand

Poor patients who do not have direct access to basic health facilities and run from the pillar to the post for treatment can now heave a sigh of relief.
State Health Department has mooted an idea to directly hear the health-related problems of general public. The department has decided to start a hot line service for people from December 1.
Through the hotline people can contact the health department and the latter would try to solve their problems. The field workers who face a lot of problems related to medicine crises or vehicles, can access the hotline to get their problems registered and be sorted out accordingly. In remotes areas if some forms of epidemic spread then any of the health staff residing in that area would inform through the hotline. The officials manning the other telephone will immediately take the decision and send relief material. Officials of the health department said the decision to start the hotline has been taken to make health facilities accessible in remote areas. Besides, to deal with an emergency, a medical team will be formed in every district. One of the two ambulances, which are lying at local Sadar hospital in Ranchi, will be used at the time of emergency.

Education takes backseat, teachers cook meal

Teaching in several primary schools, especially in interior areas of the state, has taken a backseat. For, the teachers are busy cooking food for the students under the mid-day meal scheme. As per the guidelines, cooked meals are to be supplied to the students with out interrupting the teaching process. Village Education Committee (VEC and) Saraswati Vahani (SV) were assigned the duty. Visit the primary schools of Arki block in the Ranchi district and you would find teachers of government primary schools busy preparing the meal.
Poor infrastructure for cooking meals, territorial problems and ineffective local bodies are some of the reasons for the problems faced by teachers posted here. As teachers responsible for the success of the programme they are automatically involved in the implementation of the programme. Teacher here are afraid of punishments including withholding of pay increment.
According to the Human resource Department, the programme is running smoothly. District Education Officer too claimed that the programme is successful but accepted that no system could be perfect.