Support facilities out of reach for differently abled

Support facilities out of reach for differently abled

Shanmughasundaram.j@timesgroup.com/ TNN | Updated: Sep 26, 2017, 23:44 IST

The early diagnostic centres for hearing impaired (EDCHI) in several districts in the state have remained locked, while mobile therapy units for differently abled have literally turned into officer's vehicles.

Senior officials in the Commissionerate of Welfare of the Differently Abled admitted the misuse of mobile units and poor utilisation of EDCHI. They said the lack of accountability of the district differently welfare officers (DDWOs) and a systematic tracking system has led to the present scenario. "The facilities are not put to use properly. We do receive complaints, but lack of a monitoring system and a shortage of manpower constrain us from addressing the issues," said a senior official in the department.

Early diagnostic centres for hearing impaired, each at a cost of Rs19.80 lakh, had been established in 28 districts since 2008. They were aimed to detect and treat hearing loss among children aged between 0-6 years. The centres have been equipped with sophisticated equipment — pure tone audiometry, auditory brainstem response, Oto acoustic emission (portable screener), sound-treated rooms and peep show audiometer with a laptop — to diagnose hearing loss as early as the first day of the birth of a child.

The centres were also installed with a brainstem evoked response audiometry (BERA) equipment estimated at Rs8.20 lakh, which measures responses in brain waves that are stimulated by sounds.

If congenital hearing defects are neglected, they can lead to a host of issues such as impairment in hearing, speech, language acquisition, developmental growth and difficulties in academic progress. "Not more than 5 children were screened at the diagnostic centre in the last one year here. It is a waste of resource, besides leaving several children to become impaired," said a source in the department in Vellore.

However, officials were ready with an excuse for not using the facilities. They say audiologists/speech therapists and other technicians were saddled with administrative works and were clearing files of disbursement of financial aid to the differently abled.

Apart from this, the specially modified mobile units should attend and provide orthopaedic treatment for children at their doorsteps. However, officials have been using them to attend special camps, review meetings and even to pick and drop them. "There is no fund allocated for maintenance of the mobile unit too," said another official.

DDWO, Vellore, has been using the vehicle to attend special camps, while the rest of the days it stationed at the office premises, the official added.

Denying the charges, DDWO J Senthilkumari said they had been using the mobile unit for special camps and also attending children after mobilising them at one place. She, however, said there was only poor response for EDCHIs, despite the department requesting doctors of the Government Vellore College Hospital to utilise the facility. "We screen two to four children per week," she said

S Nambu Rajan of Tamilnadu Association for the Rights of All Types of Differently Abled and Caregivers (TARATDAC) said the officials were misusing the facilities. In Kancheepuram district, officials were reportedly using the mobile units to pick them up and drop them from and at bus stops and railway stations. "We have also taken the issue to higher officials and minister, but nothing happened," he said.

Vellore doc resigns, says he was hounded

Vellore doc resigns, says he was hounded

Shanmughansundaram J

Vellore





Adjudged Best Doctor Five Times

Sathiaraj Nesan, who had been honoured as the best government doctor in Vellore five times for excellence in service, has tendered his resignation saying he was targeted by people with vested interest.During his service, the 44-yearold said, he outperformed several of his colleagues at Government Vellore Medical College Hospital and other hospitals in the district.Dr Nesan, who joined the Government Hospital n Vaniyambadi on August 20, 2007 after clearing the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission exam, said the government allocated `1 crore to establish an exclusive unit for the ophthalmology department there on seeing his performance. Since the department came up in 2010, he performed over 7,000 successful cataract (SICS and PHACO) surgeries, glaucoma surgeries, autograft and oculoplastic surgeries.
An incident on August 29 this year pushed him to tender his resignation, Dr Nesan said.At 6.30pm on that day , he was attending to a heart patient, when a man aged about 20 approached him and said he had fever and cold. “I asked him to go to the staff nurse. His questioned me why I did not check his son. Though I explained him that the boy had seasonal flu, he was not in a mood to listen,“ Dr Nesan, who had served for five years in a charitable hospital near Tirupattur before joining the Vaniyambadi GH, told TOI.
Within a few minutes, a group of 10-15 men barged into the doctor's duty room. “They took movie CDs that I had in my bag and spread them on my table. They said I was watch ing movies during duty . I told them I watched movies only when I am free, but they built a case against me to shame me and it was flashed on TV channels. It humiliated me and put my family in an unwanted situation,“ said Dr Nesan who performed 99 surgeries of the 167 done in the GH in August.
After completing his duty on August 31, Dr Nesan submitted his resignation letter. “I stronglyfeel it was not an instant reaction of the public. It was a planned one,“ he said. “I do not feel safe about completing service in Vaniyambadi GH after the incident. Hence, I submitted my resignation letter to the medical officer (Dr Usha Gnanasekaran) on September 1. Though they did not accept my letter, I am not ready to go there,“ said Dr Nesan, an alumnus of JIPMER.

Rehabilitation remains in paper

Over 100 life convicts languish as TN govt sleeps over recommendation for premature release

Shanmughasundaram.j@timesgroup.com

Vellore

Even after the recommendation of the advisory board for premature release, over 100 life convicts have been languishing for more than four years behind the high walls of the central prisons in the state. The state government has put the recommendation in cold storage.

Sources in the prison department said that the recommendations for premature release were forwarded to the state government between 2009 and 2011. However, the government did not act upon the recommendations and pass any order, leaving several eligible prisoners to suffer for several years now.

The board was constituted under the provision of the Tamil Nadu Prisons Manual.  It would look into the cases of convicts and life convicts, who completed 14 years of imprisonment, for premature release.

The board comprises district collector as chairperson and district sessions judge, chief judicial magistrate, superintendent of the prison, regional probation officer and a non-official member appointed by the government as its members.

Based on the reports obtained from the probation officer, collector of the district from where the prisoner hails, the police department, and depending on the good conduct of the prisoner during his imprisonment, the board members would consider and recommend for premature release for eligible convicts.

The recommendation will be forwarded to the ADGP (Prisons) who in turn will forward it to the home department and the government for its perusal. “It was the prerogative of the government to grant premature release or not,” said an officials.   

However, the approach of the government towards the recommendations was making mockery of Tamil Nadu Prisons manual and rehabilitation of convicts. “The recommendations are gathering dust for over five years,” said a reliable source in the prison department.

The board attached to the Vellore Central Prison for Men recommended for premature release of three inmates in 2011. But, the government is yet to take decision on the recommendations, said former member of the board Beulah Immanuel.

“If the government failed to take action based on the recommendation of the board, the inmates will lose faith in the system. It is a violation and denial of the rights of the prisoner,” she added.

K R Raja, an activist and co-founder of Global Network of Equality, said, “Prolonging the premature release even after the board’s recommendation due to administrative reasons is against the natural justice of reformation and reintegration of the convict in the mainstream society. It is equal to imposing death sentence indirectly to them.”