traffic police in high spirit

By K M Sree
Kozhikode, Feb 16:
The bill boards and hoardings which cause accident will atleast be removed from the premises of the schools in the city limit. The City Traffic Police have decided to remove all bill board and hoardings, following an order from the DGP in view of the shocking road accident that took the life of 10 school kids near Irikkur in Kannur district a few months back.
Many bill boards and hoardings erected in public places are creating problem for the drivers of various vehicles, as it prevents them from getting a clear view of the road from a distant place. The students who leave the school also find it difficult to see the vehicles owing to the presence of the boards. The boards will be removed completely before March 31.
The traffic police also convened a meeting of the Parents Teachers Association representatives of 160 schools in the city to decide up on the erecting of traffic signal boards near the schools. As per the present proposal, one board each will be erected by revenue department, education department, local self government and the PTA
Besides, the traffic police have also decided to expand the school traffic warden system. The students of 15 more schools in the city limit will be given training before the schools close for summer vacation. 50 students will be trained by the traffic police in charge of the area.
The traffic police have also instilled measures to give traffic controlling training to the members of residents associations in the city. The volunteers will be training on how to control traffic which will be useful for them to control the traffic during the peek hours.

misguiding bus passengers guides...

The screechy voice of the Corporation appointed bus passengers’ guides and the bus employees create mess for those who arrive at Moffusil and Palayam bus stands in Kozhikode city. The shrieks of the agents and the employees have reached the extent of threatening the passenger to board a bus.
The passengers’ guides, who have been appointed to help the passenger to find the vehicle that goes to the destination at the earliest, are now thwarting the freedom of the passenger to choose the vehicle they want to go. Similar scenes can also be witnessed in other bus stands including Vatakara, Koyilandi and Perambra.
``This is the bus that will leave first, so get into this one,’’ is a sentence that is used most commonly by the bus agents and employees to attract the commuters. But most of the time the passenger who board that particular bus will have to see more than two buses leaving the stand while their bus still rests in the bus way. Besides public, the buses of Kerala State Road Transport Corporation also fall prey to these agents as they force the passengers to get down of the KSRTC buses.
As the nuisance is more common in long distance buses the agents and employees of buses attract the passengers by offering seats to them. In many a case the passenger who board a bus wanting to get a seat will have to travel in standing as the bus would have left the station before they realise that there was no seat vacant in the bus.

FOR THE GOOD OF PATIENTS

After repeated demands and requests from the patients of Thalassemia and Hemophilia, Kerala State Blood Transfusion Council (BTC) has finally decided to initiate a survey to collect the details of the patients suffering from blood related diseases. This would enable the real victims of blood related diseases to get benefits from the government.
The long term demand of the associations of patients with blood related diseases to provide identity card for them would also be fulfilled after the survey. The patients of blood related diseases as well as their relatives have been demanding the government to issue ID card for past many years. With the ID card the patient who meets with some accidents will be able to get better treatment at the earliest. It will also help to get rail way concessions for the hemophilia patients.

The survey will find out the number of hemophilia, Thalassemia and Sickle cell anemia patients in the state and the reason why large number of cases are reported from norhth kerala.
The associations including Blood Patients Protection Council, Hemophilia society and other similar associations have been demanding for free treatment for patients who require repeated blood transfusion.
The survey will also include a study to find out the reason for the diseases and the possible interventions to help the patients. As blood related diseases are hereditary, marriage between relatives are noted as one reason for the disease and awareness programme on the spreading of the disease will also be conducted after a survey.

WORK BANK TOO.........

Giving a sigh of relief to the job less men and women in the district, the National Solidarity Foundation (NSF) is all set to begin a `Work Bank’ in Kozhikode. NSF has already sorted out different means of ensuring job to the immense number of jobless youth in the district.
People from all walks of life can register their names, without any registration fees, with NSF to get a job suited to their educational qualifications.
The Work Bank will have a list of registered job seekers and job providers. On getting a bio-data from a job seeker, the members of Work Bank will work as a bridge to connect the job seeker and provider.
What is unique about the Work Bank is its readiness to find job for both with high educational qualification and those with no educational back ground.

199 vacancies of doctors in Malabar||||

The laxity of health department in filling the vacancies of doctors in the North Malabar region is seriously affecting the functioning of the government hospitals and dispensaries in North Malabar.
A total of 199 vacancies including that of District medical officer, deputy medical officer, reproductive and child health officer, civil surgeon and assistant surgeon have been remaining unfilled for the past many years. While Kannur is having the maximum number of unfilled vacancies for government doctors, Kasargod and Wayanad lay next behind in the list of unfilled vacancies.
In Kannur 14 posts for civil surgeons are remaining vacant; where as 77 posts are vacant for assistant surgeons. According to the doctors of the district the staff crunch has an adverse impact on the quality of medical care and health of doctors.
The permanently unfilled vacancy of the DMO and other officials are imposing back breaking work load on the doctors on duty in Kasargod. Besides the post DMO, the post of a deputy DMO, 10 posts of civil surgeons and 39 posts of assistant surgeons are also remaining unfilled in the district.
The situation of Kozhikode district is no better as a post of additional director of health, three posts out of a total of four posts for deputy DMOs and a post of RCH officer are remaining unfilled in the district. A total of 18 posts including civil and assistant surgeon also are remaining vacant here.
Other districts Wayanad and Malappuram are also having unfilled vacancies 30 and 10 respectively. Besides unfilled vacancies, the doctors who take unauthorised long leave for working in private sector have worsened the situation in the region.

girls insecure at home?????????????????

The shocking revelation by the teen-age girls of the district that 15 per cent of them do not feel security at their own homes throws up a question mark against the high morals, values and fast pacing developments in the state. The survey was conducted by Kozhikode District Institute for Education and Training (DIET) in the back drop of increasing number of abuses against girl children.
According to the survey, while 98 per cent girls feel security at home in the company of their mother, their security feeling in the presence of father and brother are only 41 and 20 per cent respectively. None have the sense of security when left alone with relatives.
To shatter the perceived image of schools and teachers, the girls belonging in the 13 to 16 age group have also revealed the feeling of insecurity at schools. While 37 per cent admits insecurity at schools, 18 per cent admits to have experienced either physical or mental abuse at schools.
Among the girls, when 16 per cent had to face bitter experiences at laboratories, 9.5 per cent were abused in the libraries. Where as 15.5 per cent were abused during study tours.
The girls also disclosed that 56 per cent of class mates, 13 per cent of teachers and 5.5 per cent of relatives used obscene comments to insult them. Moreover 2.5 per cent class mates and 9.5 per cent relatives had tried to entice the girls for sexual relationships.
The teen-age girls also expressed their insecurity at tuition centres and public places including buses, auto rickshaws and cinemas. While 34 per cent admitted physical abuse during bus journeys, 25 per cent were abused at cinema theatres, 11 per cent in auto rickshaws and 9 per cent at tuition centres.
As the disclosure of the incident at home leads to the bombardment of moral lessons by her elders who expect her to `avoid' such situations in future, most of the girls keep these bitter experiences to themselves.
Besides, the girls also fall prey to gender discrimination. As per the statistics available, 73 per cent girls do not have the freedom to express their views at home and 12.5 per cent are forced to do heavy works at home than other members of the family.
The parents, who are eager to provide economical and educational security to their children, fail to provide emotional support and feeling of security to their girls.

Cops Vs Auto drivers

The traffic police of the city are engaged in a mission to regain the lost sheen of auto drivers of Kozhikode district. With in a few days the traffic police team in mufti will be appointed in different parts of the city to get hold of the auto drivers who decline to ply to certain places.
A team of two police persons will be engaged in checking the unruly manners of the minority segment among the auto drivers. They will also check whether any three wheeler driver is charging extra money from the public.
The Kozhikode based auto drivers had been praised for charging reasonable fare and taking the customers safely to the destination. But owing to the greed and unruly manners of a minority segment in the community, the inherited sheen of service of the whole community has started to fade.

Though the rule ask the three-wheeler drivers to go to any place the customer demands, most of the go-go generation auto drivers limit their route on their own and deny to ply to certain places, especially when women and children approach. This defiant nature of the new generation auto drivers has already invited the opposition of public.

On the same time another group of auto drivers are testing the patience of the passengers by extracting money from them. Though many persons react to the auto drivers on the scene, they do not file any complaint with the traffic police. Thus this innovative effort by city traffic would help to regain the lost fame of Kozhikode Auto drivers

Free bicycles fifth standard students????????

The class five girls of Thalakkulathur village of Kozhikode district are getting ready to ride away gender based inequalities and prejudices with the help of bicycles. The fast plying buses and cursing bus conductors will no more be able to disgust them with their reluctance to take the school students.
Nearly 130 class five girls belonging to the panchayat will shortly be able to pedal to their schools on time without the help of any one. With this special project of free distribution of bicycles to school going girls, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) aspire the empowerment of girl students form rural and semi urban areas.
The project aims to instill courage and confidence in girl children. This will underline the fact that they have the power and talent to conquer the world. At present most of the middle class and lower class parents deny the needs of their girl children owing to financial crisis.Besides, this will also mobilise the girls and impart regular exercise to the girls which will help them maintain physical fitness.
SSA is trying hard to chalk up the project during this academic year itself and have invited tenders from various companies. Rs. 3.25 lakh has been earmarked to supply 130 bicycles.
Thalakkulathur village panchayat of Chelannur block was selected for the project considering the lesser number of class five girls. Students of Mathamcherry UP, Thalakkulathur, Vijayalakshmi UP, Annassery, RAKM UP, Thalakkulathur, ASV UP, Edakara and Gurudevavilasam LP, Thalakkulathur will benefit from the project.
Next year onwards the project will be extended to other villages with the support of SSA and local self governing bodies. A certain number of bicycles will be distributed by SSA and the local bodies including village panchayats, block panchayats and district panchayat will be requested to contribute certain amount from their plan fund and collect remaining amount from sponsors.

E-Scavengers.......

Inspired by the large quantity of worn out electronic goods available in the era of technology, the junk dealers of the city are shifting their attention from waste papers and glass bottles to television, refrigerator and other electronic junks. Though the trend began nearly six years back, it has become more prominent recently.
The existence of a class of junk dealers to collect and resale electronic waste became the need of the owners of electronic showrooms, when the companies started to compete by giving exchange offer to the consumers. The used and worn out goods given in exchange of new products started to fill the showrooms and they started to find an alternative to remove it.
The junk dealers have appointed agents in different parts of the city to collect order from electronic showrooms. These agents collect worn out television sets, refrigerators and other electronic goods from various electronic showrooms and take it to the junk yards, where the workers dismantle the goods in to different parts. Glass, coppers and metallic parts of the goods are later on sold to various companies. Though the junk dealers collect goods in all seasons, festival seasons including, Onam, Christmas, Vishu and Ramazan are the most favourable time for them.

In the case of television sets, the screens are removed and sold to a company from Bangalore and other metallic parts to the steel companies of Palakkad.
There are more than six junk dealers in the city itself who collect electronic waste or e-waste. While a few of them concentrate on television sets other concentrate on refrigerators and washing machines. As computer waste also has started to pile up in the showrooms, a few have also started to collect computer waste also.

Expression of Experience

In what could be called an unusual initiative, V Akhil, a budding short film director from Ayancheri near Vadakara has captured the image of his own grandma to uncover the painful isolation that grey hairs experience in the 21st century. Adding further to the whole episode, the grandma, who on screen powerfully conveyed the feeling to the outer world on behalf of her estranged community is no more.
The movie `A Cloud Alone' directed by Akhil has successfully unveiled the isolation geriatrics feel at home when other family members are busy with their personal activities. An ordinary event, a day in the life of an old woman, is portrayed extraordinarily in the film to captivate the minds of any viewer who watch the movie.
``I was very close to my grandmother, Narayani and always tried to understand her feelings. I know, though we loved her generation gap and our busy schedules made her feel isolated,'' said Akhil.
The characters of the film, grandson immersed in games, daughter-in-law engaged in household works and son eagerly reading news paper are in a way isolating the eldest member of the family. The lonely woman even feels that a cat and cow in the house are also neglecting her owing to her age. The old lady at last had to find a company in the cloud that rained her tears.
Akhil's grandma Narayani(old woman) father Kunhiraman (son) and mother Janaki (daughter-in-law) did not really have to act in the film directed by their son, They just had to behave as usual. Akhil's nephew also was made to play the role of the grand child.
``I had captured the moments of loneliness from her life.'' To escape from isolation she used to observe nature, she loved to watch the rain, Akhil recalled.
The success of the film is its originality. As it is a recording of real life at the real place all viewers can identify with the characters of the film. ``When we discussed the story, both Akhil and I felt that it is our story. Then we decided to visualise the 15 minute film at Akhil's House,'' said script writer of the film Biju Puthuppanm.
The years- long friendship of the director and the script writer and the similarity of their experience made it more effective.
While enjoying the film and applauding the director the viewers can understand Akhil's affection for his grandma, but few know the fact that the woman who made it all possible was dead. ``My grandma died a few months back when the film `A Cloud Alone' was being screened in another place,'' Akhil strolled down memory lane with a paining heart.
Akhil with no profession training in camera work or direction had done camera work for another short film Peace Process. As an amateur in film making, he is now working as a freelance photographer in Kozhikode.

Malabar ..... health at stake?

Contrary to expectations, latest surveys reveal a heavy decline in the trend of vaccination among the people of North Kerala. A total of 13 per cent decline was reported in the number of under- two children who were given immunisation vaccines in 2007-08.
According to National Family Health Survey (NFHS), the state achievement of 80 per cent immunisation coverage in the year 1995-98 had come down to 75 per cent in 2005-07. Though the whole of Kerala has witnessed a turn down in the number of children exposed to vaccination, the trend is more severe in districts like Kasargod, Kozhikode, Kannur and Wayanad, the survey shows.
The total number of under-two children who were exposed to vaccines from these four districts in Malabar in 2002-04 was 91.3 per cent. But the number declined to 78.7 per cent in 2007-08 according to a data collected by the Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) departments of the respective districts.
The more alarming factor here is the increase in the number of educated persons showing aversion to vaccination.
As per the 2002-04 survey 92.2, 91.1, 88 and 93.8 were the immunisation coverage among under-two children in Kasargod, Kannur, Wayanad and Kozhikode district. This decreased to 84.5, 83.4, 78 and 69 in 2007-08. This shows that more reduction (24 per cent) is reported in Kozhikode which has more access to health education.
With education people have the tendency to be more doubtful about the competence of the vaccines. The propaganda by vested interest groups and their leaflets about the adversities of vaccination revert the educated from going for vaccination.
Although people are not so declined to receive vaccination for diseases like measles, the number of people who approach for polio vaccines and the third dose of DPT are showing severe diminution.
In contrast, Malappuram, another district in Malabar region had shown considerable improvement in the rate of vaccination. Their immunisation coverage was 53 per cent in 2002-04 and 61.9 in 2007-08. The better coordination of different medical sects and religious leaders were pointed out as the reason for the achievement.
However, doctor point out the threat of epidemic out break in case the immunisation coverage goes below 70 per cent.

Sales @ Kozhikode medical college

Wriggling with pain, the newly admitted patients of Kozhikode Medical College Hospital (KMCH) will be shocked to see the door-to-door vendors knock at the door steps of their wards. For the surprise of bystanders who struggle to get an entry to the ward, vendors of fancy and other items get a free run to the KMCH where `tight security' facilities are arranged to block the entry of the public.
In their attempt to entice the `customers' at the hospitals, these vendors display their products at the wards and make noise to the buyers. According to sources, the casuality which seeks the best of hygienic conditions is the main `sale centre' of vendors of fancy and utility items. Besides messing up the relaxation time of the patients, this also causes infection for patients as the products, those have been displaying at various places in the street, contain germs.
The door-to door vendors usually rush to the hospital during after noon hours and spoil the peaceful atmosphere at the casuality and other wards.
Exploiting the slackness in the security facilities, these purveyors enter the hospital to sell their products in an unproblematic manner. These hawkers can thwart the difficulty in walking from door-to-door and avoid the humiliation of having doors shut at them by adopting this trouble-free manner.
The vendors carry bangles, chains, mirrors, soaps, face powder and other fancy items to peruse the women bystanders. Most of the patients and their bystanders are from rural areas and financially backward families. The vendors take advantage of this to sell the products at comparatively cheaper rates.Though a time passing event for many, the vendors are creating annoyance for the seriously injured and critically ill patients. Besides the pain, they have to bear the unnerving sounds of clatter and rattle.
The children among patients and visitors are also targeted by the vendors. They carry small toys and sweet items along with other products to target the tiny tots. The assembly of the children, women and the partially cured patients make the hospital atmosphere similar to that of a festival ground. Similar situation can also be spotted in the Government general Hospital, Beach.
Although a few of the bystanders and patients care to drive out these hawkers with their merchandise using abusive words, they have learned the art of letting these negative words wash over them and moving on to the next bed for sale.