STEP - MOTHERLY TREATMENT.

 

By Nisser Dias                                                                                  

Step-motherly treatment to health care in Goa

           

            Decades back the basic needs of a human being was ‘roti, kapda aur makhan’, today with the evolution of time and modernity two more basic needs have been added to that list. And that is education and health care. Many a countries in the world including India has made these two requirements of modern day life freely available to its citizens, sadly in India it largely remains as desire of the people. To some extent the Centre through the state governments have reached out to students to attract them to attend school to eradicate illiteracy, healthcare has suffered badly because of the apathy of the political class of people who seem to be more interested in letting private players in the health sector to flourish.

            It will require reams and reams of papers if we try to compile medical negligence in government hospitals and neglect of government hospitals all over the country. So at the moment let me concentrate or rather focus on the neglect of government hospitals in our own state. A state that is said to be forward looking with a different outlook compared to the rest of the country, advanced state in contrast to other states. A world famous tourist destination and yet successive governments have not been able to establish a robust government healthcare system where its people can get quality medical treatment for free.

            Of course in 2002 during the first tenure of Manohar Parrikar as chief minister a survey was conducted by a reputed national new magazine and Goa did stand among the first five in healthcare. But the parameters then were based on the number of primary health centres, sub centres and government hospitals. So also it was based on the number of people visiting these hospitals. But the mystery still remains whether the journalists conducted survey by actually visiting these centres (health) and observing its functioning or whether the information sought by them was provided by the government officials in their hotel rooms?

            Nonetheless Goa was projected in the top five in health-care in the country but we all know the ground realities are quite different.  A visit at any health centre or sub-centre or hospital including government Goa Medical College (GMC) will indicate that the authorities are not bothered about the hygiene and upkeep of the centres and hospitals.

            Recently the false ceiling of the Out Going Patient (OPD) at GMC had collapsed due to leakage of rainwater. Fire had also erupted in the complex, there are many more examples to show that successive Health minister lack the will and the zeal to bring about revolutionary change in the public health care.

            Hospicio is yet another story of neglect and disregard. It has become a sort of a tradition that upon taking oath the newly ordained minister visits this hospital based in the commercial city of Margao and is a nodal hospital for south Goa. But successive governments have conveniently ignored to cater to its requirements. The word hygiene had taken leave of absence in this hospital years ago. The staff including the doctors posted at this hospital must be using the word sanitisation only while advising the patients because I do not think the hospital was ever sanitized. Of course I do not blame the doctors and the staff because it is the duty of the government to provide the equipment and chemicals to do it. It is our bad omen that the successive governments have even failed to provide adequate beds and bedsheets due which patients have to share a bed and that too without a bed cover and bed sheet. Family members or relatives have to be content sleeping on the floor.

            The morgue at Hospicio is yet another issue. Over the decades the capacity of the morgue has not been increased and there have times when even two corpses were accommodated in once space. Infact some years back reacting to my news item on the mortuary I was invited to visit the morgue. The contention of the in-charge was that it was maintained and the dead persons were given the due respect. To his bad luck a dead body was kept on the floor outside the cold storage and he had to apologize to me. Subsequently chief medical officer posted at Hospicio decided to build another morgue at Leprosy hospital inspite of resistance from the morgue incharge. Couple of years later it was closed down because of inconvenience. Lakhs and lakhs of rupees down the drain.

            The leprosy hospital in Margao at the Monte hill is another case neglect. Yes, we have the infrastructure in place in terms of buildings, plenty of space around it and qualified staff but to my utter dismay the government does not have the resolve and determination to maintain it and run it smoothly like private hospitals.

            Similar treatment is also being dished out to hospitals in the pipeline. Digambar Kamat government has poured in crores of rupees in the new district hospital project on the outskirts of Margao. Today all the works on the promising project has come to a standstill as the current government is not making the funds available for its completion. Initially Health minister Laxmikant Parsekar made tall promises of completing the project so that it would be a big asset to the state and a facility to the people of south Goa. One and half year down the line the project stands abutting the national highway as a ghostly, ugly structure.

            The government showed great interest completing the imposing South Goa Collectorate even after cribbing that its maintenance would be a financial burden on the government treasury year after year. But similar enthusiasm is lacking in this case. The question is why. If the government does have the finance due various factors like stopping of mining, servicing of various populist schemes then why does the chief minister keeps on promising financial assistance at every public function he attends. The idea should have been to complete public amenities already underway and then take up new ones. But it has become our government’s agenda to give step-motherly treatment to most of the public amenities including health care.

            Send your comments/reactions to nisserdias@gmail.com Or SMS 9422437029)

  

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Nisser

THE MANOHAR PARRIKAR – KURUPATI ROW CONNECTION.

By Aires Rodrigues

This is how Mr. Kurupati Dwarkanath Row, the new Chairman of Goa Public Service Commission is related to Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar. Kurupati Dwarkanath Row’s wife was a Dharwadkar (before marriage to him). Her brother Girish is the co-brother (saddu) of Chief Minister’s brother Avdhoot Parrikar. Avdhoot Parrikar’s wife and Girish Dharwadkar’s wife are sisters of the Caro family. Their third sister is married to Dr Vinay Prabhu Desai, whose daughter is engaged to Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar’s younger son Abhijaat Manohar Parrikar. 

 

This could be the only reason the entire selection process of Kurupati Dwarkanath Row to the very high constitutional post of Chairman of Goa Public Service Commission took less than 8 hours.

A note was moved by the Personnel department at the Secretariat on 27th February this year that Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar had recommended and suggested the name of Kurapati Dwarakanath Row for the post of Chairman of Goa Public Service Commission. The note was approved by the Under Secretary, Additional Secretary, Chief Secretary and the Chief Minister on the same day. The proposal was also approved by the Cabinet meeting held on that very same day. The Supreme Court will now take a call on whether Row’s appointment was in accordance with law.

I have nothing against Kurupati Dwarkanath Row. Infact I remember with nostalgic memories in the late 70’s buying chunky beef from Kurupati Dwarkanath Row’s mother who then ran a thriving beef shop (BEEF STEAK) adjacent to the Main post office in Panaji. The quality of beef was remarkable. In those days there was no Goa Meat Complex. And Dr. Manohar Parrikar was also not around to advise us on health grounds not to eat beef. That his hidden anti- beef agenda as advisor of Govansh Raksha Abhiyan (GRA), has now been exposed is another issue.

IMPORTANCE OF MAIDS & EXPATRIATES IN KUWAIT.

Maid and Aya, these two words are very popular in Kuwait though both  are interpreted as same in meaning, one is English word while the other an Indian word coming from Sanskrit meaning Ai-i means a mother. According to our elders who came in early fifties to work at Oil sector in Ahmadi, Kuwait, the Britishers employed at KOC,  first time  recruited Ayas from India  to work in their houses provided by the KOC. The word Aya means Mother whose job is to take care of the children of their employers just the way the real mothers do except breast feeding. 

From the Britishers the locals learnt the lesson to hire the services of Indian Ayas whom the locals started recruiting directly from Goa, Mangalore and Bombay.  The early Ayas to come to Kuwait from Goa were in late fifties but in sixties and seventies their number increased tremendously because plenty of money started flowing into the hands of plenty of  locals who started living an affluent and sophisticated life. Though the Maids were recruited to do the job of Ayas that is to take care of the small children of their employers but later on they were made to do the different types of jobs which were not suitable for the females.  But having no choice the poor Ayas surrendered to the diktats of their employers.

Goan maids are the most sincere and faithful in Kuwait doing their jobs most sincerely.  The maids or Ayas working in Kuwait are called Domestics and being so they are categorised in the eyes of law in different category as far as their Residence Permits are concerned. Maids or Ayas or Domestics as they are called here because of their domestic residence permit category, as per the law are not supposed to work outside of their sponsors houses but some sponsors of the Ayas allow them to work outside. When they work outside they make more money and enjoy more freedom.

 During the time of invasion of Kuwait many of the maids in Kuwait made great sacrifices even without returning back to their home countries.  These maids were so faithful to their employers and their children that they even volunteered to die in Kuwait along with their employers for their sake and for the love of their employers and their children.  They spent the entire invasion period with fear and tension of war. By doing this type of sacrifice for the love of their employers and their children they even forgot their own children and their other family members. Their sacrifices were really great.  This point has to be remembered very well and always when dealing with the maids in Kuwait. After the invasion some of the maids went back to their home countries without even taking their salaries since they understood well the financial difficulties their employers were facing. Those who are treating them harshly either lawfully or unlawfully must show some compassions for their plight and for the sacrifices they made when they were not duty bound to do the same.

 On the 4^th day of the invasion of Kuwait, American troops started coming to Saudia Arabia to protect this land from Iraqis. In fact on the 4^th day of the invasion of Kuwait, the Iraqi invading troops of Kuwait late in the afternoon were moving and while going from their Military Jeeps and Lorries they were shouting saying "we are now going to Saudia".  This I saw with my own eyes at Kuwait City when Iraqi troops were moving towards Saudia. This move of American troops to Saudi Arabia was a surprise for Saddam Hussein and with this anger he issued a warning to America that if its troos enter Kuwait, he will convert Kuwait into a graveyard for all its residents. Was it difficult for him to execute his threat?  Being an Arab Monster anything and everything was possible for him.

 When this threat was issued, most of the countries according to the information available at that time, supplying manpower to Kuwait were shocked and silently they started pleading with Saddam Hussein thru proper diplomatic channels not to take such a heinous actions. Then as per information Saddam Hussein for the sake of expatriates life in Kuwait withdrew this threat and secondly Americans also did not give him any opportunity to go ahead with his threat.

 During the invasion time of Kuwait, expatriates acted like a human shield for Kuwait.  Many of the expatriates were of great help to Kuwaitis as well. They may be a hindrance now but at the critical time they were of great help to Kuwait and Kuwaitis just as Domestics. This fact cannot be ignored.

A. Veronica Fernandes,
Kuwait. 





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