Medical facilities in question
Sir — The recent death of an aspirant during the physical tests for constable recruitment in Bhubaneswar has raised several questions about the availability of medical facilities at such recruitment centres.
In the story “Aspiring cop dies during test” published on October 21, it has been mentioned that the youth, Sheikh Imdad Ali, fainted while participating in the 1.6km run in the scorching heat as part of fitness tests. However, neither the test venue had any doctor available at that time nor any first aid facility. It did not even have a vehicle to rush him to the hospital. The youth’s family members and other aspirants alleged that the police took the issue casually and sent him to hospital after about half an hour, which was too late.
The police might try to escape the blame by calling it a case of cardiac arrest (though the deceased’s family members claimed Imdad Ali did not have any heart problem), but the careless attitude of the authorities with regards to providing medical facilities at the venue cannot be ignored.
Satya Prakash Mishra, Bhimatangi, Bhubaneswar
Sir — This is with reference to the story “BJD’s cash bash ahead of polls” published in your esteemed daily on October 28. Chief minister Naveen Patnaik is now busy disbursing crores to beneficiaries of various welfare schemes — right from transferring money to the accounts of 2.5 lakh Class X students under the free bicycle scheme, to the direct cash transfer to pregnant women and labourers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, and what not.
Embroiled in a series of scams and sandals, the ruling Biju Janata Dal government seems to be trying desperately for an image makeover by blatantly doling out cash ahead of the 2012 panchayat elections.
The party claims this would bring about transparency and avoid the middleman system, but it is nothing more than a campaigning strategy. In my opinion, it is just another kind of “cash for votes” fuss.
Padmalochan Pradhan, IRC Village, Bhubaneswar
Sir — The inordinate delay in construction of the flyover from Kalpana Square to Rajmahal Square in the capital is turning out to be a real pain in the neck for hundreds of commuters.
I have to travel everyday from Pokhariput to Vani Vihar Square to reach office and the daily closure of some part of the road connecting Bapuji Nagar with Master Canteen Square is frustrating.
Besides having to travel a few kilometres extra, the poor condition of the roads around the construction area makes it difficult to drive. There always remains a risk of injuries caused to the commuters by the way the vehicles hop and bounce on the potholed stretches of the road. Even the traffic policemen posted at these spots do not care to restrict the traffic flow on the wrong side, thereby creating further chaos and confusion. The project started two-and-a-half years ago and was expected to be completed by March 2011.
But the engineers of the public works department are now “predicting” that it would be completed by April 2012. I would not be surprised if this deadline is extended by another year or two and the commuters continue to suffer until then as the authorities seem to be least bothered about their inconveniences.
Rajashree Mohanty, Pokhariput, Bhubaneswar
Sir — This is with regards to the article “Power crisis cloud looms over Orissa”, published in your newspaper on October 22.
Sir, it was a very informative article.
Especially the piece of information that the state could lose 162MW power supply helped readers have an idea of the current state of affairs.
Though this is a matter to be dealt by the state government and the Power Grid Corporation of India Limited, it would, no doubt, affect the common people like me.
It is surprising that a state such as Orissa, which has easy availability of coal and so many thermal power plants set up, should pay a higher fee to avail power supply.
I feel it would be justified only if the state government resists this move.
Debendra Patnaik, Unit-IX, Bhubaneswar
Sir — The decision to appoint Debasish mohanty as the new coach of the state Ranji team came as a surprise.
Mohanty, who is a former test player of the Indian cricket team, had played a crucial role as a strike bowler in the last season. He could well have continued to be in the team as a player.
I could not find any logic behind dismissing Australian player Michael Bevan who took the charge as the main coach last year. It was because of him that cricket teams from the state got an opportunity to be exposed to the cricketing atmosphere in Australia and performed well too. The Orissa Cricket Association does not have any lack of money to appoint a good coach for the team. Moreover, the association could have also approached any of the veteran national-level player for the post.
Mohanty might have been out of form for quite some time, as evident from his below average performance in the last Ranji season, but the decision to end his career as a player is not justified.
Subhasish Kanungo, Badambadi, Cuttack
