01082025-JTR-01.qxd 31-07-2025 22:31 Page 1 c m y b Jalandhar tribune SAD, CONGRESS PAY TRIBUTES TO SHAHEED UDHAM SINGH HANSRAJ STADIUM TO OPEN FOUR SPORTS COURTS JJ VALAYA CALLS INDIA A ‘TREASURE TROVE’ OF IDEAS On the 84th martyrdom day of Shaheed Udham Singh, tribute ceremonies were held in Jalandhar. P2 Raizada Hansraj Stadium is set to inaugurate four new outdoor multipurpose courts on August 8. P3 Ace designer’s latest collection served as a fitting closing show to India Couture Week 2025. P4 » » FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 29°C | MIN 26°C YESTERDAY MAX 30°C | MIN 26°C SUNSET FRIDAY 7.23 PM SUNRISE SATURDAY 5:44 AM » FRIDAY | 1 AUGUST 2025 | JALANDHAR Suspended doc questions probe fairness Shoots off letter to PCMS Association |Body announces separate probe from today, to visit hospital Aparna Banerji Tribune News Service Jalandhar, July 31 Dr Sunakshi, a consultant anaesthetist at the Civil Hospital, Jalandhar, who has been suspended over three deaths in the hospital, has written to the president of the PCMS Association, Jalandhar, raising concerns on the “fairness and thoroughness of the inquiry process”, conducted by the Health Department, stating that she has been “unfairly targeted and made a scapegoat”. Her letter and claims come in the wake of the state Health Minister’s declaration on Wednesday regarding the suspension of Jalandhar Civil Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Raj Kumar, SMO Dr Surjit Singh and Dr Sunakshi and dismissal of House Surgeon Dr Shivinder Singh. The suspended doctor, who is an expectant mother, has claimed, “The probe was an immediate leap to disciplinary action without a complete and transparent investigation into all contributing factors, including potential systemic failures, infrastructural limitations and the true chain of events”. In response to her allegations, Health Minister Dr Balbir Singh said he was open to the presence of a PCMS member on the investigating panel and said the enquiry would be fair. Meanwhile, the issue has now turned into a standoff with the PCMS association Health Minister Dr Balbir Singh during the inspection of a oxygen unit at Civil Hospital in Jalandhar. TRIBUNE PHOTO:MALKIAT SINGH MINISTER ASSURANCE TO DOCTORS SYSTEMIC FAILURE? A sympathetic hearing will be given to anyone who feels he or she has been punished. The enquiry will be fair to all. We are also open to having a representative from the PCMS (on panel). WON'T ALLOW ANYONE TO TARGET DOCS The association won't allow scapegoating of a doctor. We are launching our separate probe, to be conducted by a five-member team, including state PCMSA president Dr Akhil Sareen, state working secretary Dr Simranjit Singh Dhaliwal and 3 more members, at Civil Hospital, Jalandhar. We welcome the minister's offer of inclusion of PCMS doctors on the probe panel. But if any doctor is found to be made a scapegoat, we may possibly also take to the protest. The probe was an immediate leap to disciplinary action without a complete probe into all factors, including potential systemic failures, infrastructural limitations and the true chain of events. — Dr Balbir Singh , HEALTH MINISTER — Dr. Baljinder Singh, JALANDHAR PRESIDENT, PCMSA — Dr Sunakshi, WHO HAS BEEN SUSPENDED announcing to launch a separate probe into the Civil Hospital deaths. A fivemember probe committee will come to the Civil Hospital to launch an investigation on Friday. The suspended doctor’s letter systems. With the formal probe report yet to be made public, her letter is the only first- ❝ ❞ ❝ ❞ primarily flags the systemic failure rather than doctors responsible for lapses like lack of oxygen and warning ❝ ❞ hand account from a doctor present at the hospital on the fateful day to appear in the public domain so far. The letter states that she tried her level best to ensure the survival of two patients while being completely blindsided by the abrupt cessation of oxygen supply to all five patients on ventilator support without any prior alarm or warning systems that were supposed to go off. It further presses for a comprehensive review of the hospital’s infrastructure, oxygen supply systems and emergency protocols. This tragedy highlights a critical need to identify and rectify any underlying systemic issues that may have contributed to the tragedy and prevent the scapegoating of doctors when broader institutional or systemic deficiencies might be the root cause. The severe outcome of this incident was tragically compounded by the unavailability of immediate and reliable backup oxygen systems.” Her letter also raises some critical long-standing issue of the unavailability of a dedicated room for the anaesthetist within the TICU/ICU with adequate CCTV coverage for safety of female consultants as per latest guidelines. The doctor appealed to the PCMS association, to intervene immediately to ensure a fair, impartial and exhaustive enquiry into the incident. Balbir’s surprise visit to hospital in Nawanshahr Tribune News Service Nawanshahr, July 31 Dr Balbir Singh, Health and Family Welfare Minister, conducted a surprise visit to the District Hospital, Nawanshahr, on Thursday. During his visit, he interacted with patients, enquiring about their well-being and taking stock of the hospital’s healthcare facilities. He also held discussions with Civil Surgeon Dr Gurinderjit Singh and Senior Medical Officer Dr Satwinderpal Singh regarding the arrangements in place to provide better healthcare services to patients. Balbir emphasised that under no circumstances should any patient face difficulties in obtaining treatment. He instructed the hospital management to ensure the availability of all medicines within the hospital itself. “We need to maintain a buffer stock of at least one month’s supply of essential medicines, and there should be no shortage of critical medications,” he stated. He further added, “Patients should not have to buy medicines or other items from outside the hospital.” The Health Minister also highlighted the importance of uninterrupted oxygen supply and power backup in emergency services and all critical care units. He stressed the MAKE MEDICINES AVAILABLE IN HOSPITAL Dr Balbir emphasised that under no circumstances should any patient face difficulties in obtaining treatment. He instructed the hospital management to ensure the availability of all medicines within the hospital itself. need for round-the-clock oxygen availability, a fully functional UPS system, and operational generators to ensure there are no disruptions in life-saving medical services. Addressing another question from the media, Balbir stated that the construction of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Government Medical College is expected to begin this year. He said this college will provide state-of-the-art healthcare facilities for residents of Nawanshahr and surrounding areas. In response to a question about the shortage of staff in government hospitals, Balbir assured the media that the recruitment process is underway to enhance the efficiency and performance of public healthcare facilities. He said the recruitment of 1,000 doctors is expected to be completed soon. Managing infra not surgeon’s job: Dahiya Property of drug peddler demolished Tribune News Service Jalandhar, July 31 Congress leader and former national vice-president of the IMA Dr Navjot Dahiya said the recent termination of a house surgeon at the Civil Hospital in connection with the oxygen-related deaths is deeply disturbing and unjust. He said it raises serious concerns about the accountability mechanisms within the public healthcare system. “While the loss of patient lives due to oxygen cut-off is undeniably tragic and demands a thorough investigation, it is absolutely unacceptable that a junior doctor — a house surgeon still under DID YOU MANAGE O2 CYLINDER, DR BALBIR Have you forgotten what are the responsibilities of a house surgeon? Did you ever manage oxygen cylinders or hospital supply chains during your internship? ❝ — Dr Navjot Dahiya, EX-VICE-PRESIDENT, IMA training — is being made the scapegoat for what is clearly a systemic and administrative failure”, he said. Dr Dahiya raised questions, “Who was responsible for ensuring oxygen supply and storage? Why were timely alerts not raised by the hospital administration? Were senior officers, including the medical superintendent and civil surgeon, unaware of the critical situation? Why is no accountabili- ❞ ty being fixed at the level of supply chain, infrastructure management, or administrative oversight?” He added, “The role of a house surgeon is clinical and supervisory. It is neither his responsibility, nor within his power to manage logistical or infrastructural issues like oxygen procurement or cylinder maintenance.” On Health Minister Dr Balbir Singh, Dr Dahiya said, “I ask him, who himself is a doc- tor and began his medical journey as a house surgeon, ‘Have you forgotten what are the responsibilities of a house surgeon? Did you ever manage oxygen cylinders or hospital supply chains during your internship?’” The former IMA functionary listed out his demands, “There should be an immediate revocation of the termination order against the house surgeon. A fair and independent inquiry should be held into the incident to fix responsibility on the actual decisionmakers. The government must ensure better infrastructure and accountability mechanisms to prevent recurrence.” Tribune News Service Jalandhar, July 31 As a part of the government’s ongoing anti-drug initiative ‘ Yudh Nashian Virudh’, the Jalandhar Municipal Corporation, in coordination with the Jalandhar Commissionerate Police, demolished an illegal construction belonging to a notorious drug peddler on Thursday in Pucca Bagh locality. Commissioner of Police Dhanpreet Kaur said the illegal property of Harvinder Singh was razed in the Pucca Bagh area. Harvinder is a known drug trafficker with 18 FIRs registered against him under the NDPS Act, liquor smuggling, and others. “This operation marks a strong message to the drug mafia. By eliminating their illegal properties, we are not only enforcing the law but also reclaiming our neighbourhoods from the grip of narcotics,” said CP Dhanpreet Kaur. She appealed to citizens to share drug-related information through the government’s WhatsApp number 9779-100-200, assuring full confidentiality of informants. Residents welcomed the initiative by the Jalandhar Commissionerate Police. They applauded the government’s bold steps, saying, “This will send a strong signal to drug peddlers and inspire public trust. The police get a house of a drug peddler demolished. LED bulbs to illuminate city’s dark spots soon Teenager stabbed to death, Tribune News Service Jalandhar, July 31 In a significant move to enhance public safety and visibility, the Municipal Corporation (MC) has procured 6,000 LED lights with the goal of illuminating dark spots across the city. The initiative is expected to bring muchneeded relief to residents, who have long been facing issues due to inadequate streetlighting. According to official sources, LED lights will be distributed among councillors of each ward. This will allow ward representatives to identify and install lights in areas that require immediate attention. The focus will be on both key public areas and dark stretches that have posed safety concerns for years. Several areas have been attackers on the run grappling with complete darkness due to the absence of functional streetlights. Previously, the maintenance of streetlights was outsourced to a private company. “But, the maintenance was not being done properly,” officials said. Yashika Sharma, a local school teacher, welcomed the step. “If the corporation is actually going to install the lights, then it is appreciated. This should have been done on priority, but, nevertheless, it is still welcomed,” she said. The residents believe that it will not only improve visibility, but also reduce the cases of theft and accident, especially in vulnerable areas. Officials have said the installation work will begin soon and monitoring will be done to ensure timely completion and maintenance. Tribune News Service WAYLAID BY 12 YOUTHS Jalandhar, July 31 An 18-year-old youth of Ghah Mandi was murdered with sharp-edged weapons over a minor feud the last midnight. A CCTV footage of the incident too has surfaced in which victim Rahul is seen waylaid by some dozen youths near Dussehra Ground of the Basti Sheikh locality. They repeatedly hit and stab him with knives. After this, he falls off on the road and all assailants flee. Rahul is taken to a hospital on a bike but doctors declared him brought dead. His brother-in-law Lalla Ram said he received a call around 1 am that Rahul has been stabbed. c m y b ■ A CCTV footage of the incident too has surfaced in which victim Rahul is seen waylaid by some dozen youths near Dussehra Ground of the Basti Sheikh locality. ■ They repeatedly hit and stab him with knives. After this, he falls off on the road and all assailants flee the spot. The victim’s mother said even the victims threw stones and bricks at their house before fleeing. She said the assailants had called her son near a gym close to their house where they murdered him. Swaranjit Singh, ACP- Jalandhar West and SHO Division No. 5 Sahi Chaudhary, visited the spot. A case has been registered against the accused. “We know that accused were known to Rahul. They had some dispute over which they murdered him. We shall know the exact cause of death once we arrest the accused”, said the ACP . A similar incident had occurred on July 14 wherein a youth had been gheroed by a bunch of other boys near their a house at Bhargo Camp. He too was done to death in a similar way using sharpedged weapons and the accused had been nabbed on the basis of the clues available through CCTV footage.