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Women Welfare / Development


Cleaning employees assist in deliveries at crunch-hit municipal maternity homes

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The Indian Express    03.08.2012

Cleaning employees assist in deliveries at crunch-hit municipal maternity homes

 News

Usha Devi’s newborn came into the world a few hours after the Northern Grid collapsed for the first time early on Monday morning.

When Usha went into labour at the 14-bed municipality-run maternity home in Khichripur, East Delhi, late on Sunday night, a nurse who was assisted by a cleaning staff helped her deliver — in a room lit by candles.

The centre is one of the 30-odd maternity homes in the city, sponsored by the government as part of its Janani Suraksha Yojana programme to promote “institutional” deliveries. Most of these centres suffer from an appalling lack of facilities and staff.

“The labour room was dark and hot. I was in pain. I did not know that a nurse, not a doctor, was attending to me. She saved my life and my baby,” Usha said.

When the Northern Grid failed a second time on Tuesday, the healthcare centre was once again without power. Usha and her child lay in the ward, where another expecting mother, Aarti, was writhing in labour pain.

Though not qualified, a cleaning staff administered her a drip.“We have learnt a few things because of the perennial staff shortage. We help the nurses,” she said.The auxiliary nurse midwife agreed: “We have learned to work without doctors. The sweepers have become our assistants.”

SORRY STATE

Delhi Health Minister Dr A K Walia said: “Most of these centres are managed by the civic agencies. We have been telling them to arrange for basic facilities like ultrasound machines.”

These centres have been around for over a decade and were supposed to be open round-the-clock. But it has been alleged that doctors — some of who are posted under National Rural Health Mission — were seldom available at night.

“We have eight-hour shifts. If the doctor is on night duty, a nurse still has to manage the other shifts alone. Babies will not wait to be born at the hands of a doctor. There is acute shortage of doctors,” a doctor at the Tri Nagar maternity home in North Delhi said.

Sources said there’s no ambulance for emergencies, though the rules state that there should be one at each centre. And at Patparganj centre, which has an ambulance, the vehicle cannot be used as the driver has been on leave for a month.

There are instances, sources said, when nurses have to fetch water from outside for deliveries because of erratic supply and poor storage facilities. At Geeta Colony, Tri Nagar, Shakurpur Basti and Patparganj centres, there is no running water in the labour room.

Spokesperson for the city’s three municipalities, Yogendra Mann, said tender notices would be issued for generators and inverters at the these homes. “We discussed with the Delhi government ways to develop a system for making CATS ambulances available at these centres whenever necessary,” he said.

“We are getting doctors from NRHM and are in the process of recruiting more through UPSC,” he said.

SEPTIC CONDITIONS

Even without the basic facilities, these centres perform anywhere between 50 and 70 deliveries every month, government sources said.

Doctors said their hands were tied because of the lack of diagnostic equipment. Moreover, there is no operation theatre as, in accordance with the policy, they are supposed to perform only “routine deliveries”.

A doctor at the Patparganj home said: “At the slightest sign of complication, we are supposed to refer our patients to the nearest government hospital. I don’t know why we (doctors) are posted here when we don’t have any support system to help the patients.”

A gynaecologist of Hedgewar Hospital said: “We are already overburdened. Our gynaecology ward has a waiting list of three months for an ultrasound.”

That is not the only problem. A nurse posted at the Geeta Colony centre said: “Distance between (government) hospitals and our centre is a huge factor when the clock is ticking. There are instances of women delivering on the way to hospitals.”

Doctors at the Patparganj home said nurses conduct deliveries in “septic conditions” because no staff has been appointed to do the after-delivery cleaning.“There is no water supply in the labour room. Shortage of sweepers means there is no one to do the cleaning,” a doctor said.

Last Updated on Friday, 03 August 2012 10:17
 

Kochi corporation to draft project for women's safety

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The Times of India        13.07.2012

Kochi corporation to draft project for women's safety

 KOCHI: In an effort to make the city safe and free from violence against women, the Kochi corporation would soon draft a project to ensure safety of women. Addressing a one-day seminar on women safety on Thursday, mayor Tony Chammany said the project would be included in the next plan for the city.

Inaugurating the seminar, inspector general of police, K Padmakumar pointed out the need to have a comprehensive plan for ensuring safety of women.

The one-day seminar was based on a study report submitted by two organization- UN Women Jagori and Sakhi. The discussions focused on the need to incorporate changes in town planning, policing and transportation sectors to make the city safe for women.

The organizations conducted two safety audits in the city - one at the vicinity of KSRTC bus stand and the other at Thoppumpady junction.

The audits were done during both day and night, and they found that women face problems while travelling and moving around in public places.

 

Kalpetta municipality to turn women-friendly

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The Hindu        20.12.2011

Kalpetta municipality to turn women-friendly

A Correspondent

Survey of floating population today; plan to be drafted for project

A people's initiative, under the auspices of the Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishath (KSSP) district committee and the Kalpetta municipality, is planning to make the municipality here a women-friendly civic body.

The initiative aims at tackling atrocities on women and children and ensuring their status in society, K. Sachithanandan, project coordinator, said.

Though the social status of women has increased, they are excluded from the development plans of the local administrative bodies, T. Sreevalsan, president of the KSSP unit, said. A development plan for women is possible only after analysing data on them, especially of the floating population, he said.

“We will organise a survey on the floating population on Tuesday by the help of the National Service Scheme volunteers of the government college here,” he said.

District Collector K. Gopalakrishna Bhatt will inaugurate the programme.

Mr. Sreevalsan said the survey would count the number of women who reached the town from different parts of the district for various needs, the approach of the urban population towards them, and the various issues facing them in government institutions and private establishments in the municipal area. The data would help draft a plan and implement the project soon, A.P. Hameed, municipal chairman, told The Hindu .

The project will be implemented with the active cooperation of women non-governmental organisations, college students, the Janamaithri police, and Kudumbasree units.

For the survey, a day's training was provided to the volunteers at the Government Lower Primary school auditorium here recently.

 

PMC forms squads to stop sex-determination tests

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The Times of India      01.07.2011

PMC forms squads to stop sex-determination tests

PUNE: Under pressure from political parties and civic activists, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Thursday formed four squads to keep a check on doctors who conduct sex-determination tests and abortions of unwanted pregnancy. Each squad is headed by a ward medical officer with six members which will conduct surprise visits at sonography and medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) centres in the city. Municipal commissioner Mahesh Pathak had said on Wednesday that sex determination is a 'social' problem and corporation cannot conduct sting operations.

The statement drew criticism from corporators. The PMC recently announced that maternity homes run by it will begin maintaining ante-natal care (ANC) and post-natal care (PNC) records. Pathak said that such a measure will not only help check female foeticide, but also provide a record of women's health. The city's sex ratio at birth (girls born per 1,000 boys in a year) dipped to 879 in 2010 as compared to 886 in 2009.

Corporators across party lines have demanded stringent action against sonography centres that violate the provisions of the PCPNDT (Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques) Act. The demand was raised after the civic administration, in a reply to corporator Sunil Bankar's written question, admitted that the PMC has taken action against just 34 erring sonography centres in last 11 years and only 12 centre owners have been fined by the court. "The civic administration is pretending to take action. The health department is not at all serious,"said former mayor Rajlaxmi Bhosale. 

 

 

Corporation doles out aid to women's groups

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The Hindu        14.03.2011

Corporation doles out aid to women's groups

Special Correspondent

International Women's Day celebrations organised on a grand scale by VMC

One for the album: Prominent women of Vijayawada who were felicitated by the municipal corporation in Vijayawada on Sunday. — PHOTO: CH.VIJAYA BHASKAR
One for the album: Prominent women of Vijayawada who were felicitated by the municipal corporation in Vijayawada on Sunday. — PHOTO: CH.VIJAYA BHASKAR

The Makineni Basava Punnaiah mini stadium in Singhnagar bustled with activity on Sunday. A steady stream of people poured in from all directions to be part of the International Women's Day celebrations organised on a grand scale by the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation.

The corporation doled out aid, in cash and other forms of assistance worth Rs. 15.51 crore to a total number of 10,970 beneficiaries under various welfare schemes.

Minister for Secondary Education Kolusu Parthasaradhy utilised the occasion to assert the Congress Government's stand on the issue of woman welfare. He said allegations surfacing from certain quarters that the State was trying to dilute the welfare schemes introduced by the former chief minister, the late Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, were baseless. Reiterating that the ultimate aim of the Congress Government was to empower women in all spheres, he sought to substantiate the claim by pointing to the fact that the Rs. 215 crore released for self-help groups in 2008-09 under the paavala vaddi scheme had been enhanced to Rs. 450 crore this year. Stating that the Krishna district alone had bagged funds to the tune of Rs. 18.5 crore, the Minister said the Congress under able leadership of Sonia Gandhi at the Centre would always give priority to welfare of the masses.

Mr. Parthasaradhy also complimented the corporation authorities for making apt use of the occasion of Women's Day.

Vijayawada Central MLA Malladi Vishnu said it was the right occasion to pay glowing tributes to the former chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy who had introduced a slue of welfare schemes for women. He said the fact that the country had a woman President and the State had a woman Home Minister and a number of others occupying key posts in different walks of life, only goes to prove that women empowerment was among top priorities of the ruling parties.

The corporation also felicitated 25 women from various walks of life for their achievement in their respective fields.

Later, certificates of placement linked training programmes were given to 500 self-help group members, besides release of funds for beneficiaries of

Swarna Jayanthi Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY), Deepam scheme, Indira Kranthi Padhakam, Dwcra group members and street hawkers of Besant Road.

Municipal Commissioner G. Ravibabu, former Mayors M.V. Ratna Bindu, Tadi Sakuntala and Mallika Begum and others were on the dais.


  • Allegations that the State is diluting welfare schemes by YSR baseless: Minister
  • ‘Amount released under paavala vaddi scheme enhanced to Rs. 450 crore this year'
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