IEP Chandigarh, September 12

A nationwide rollout of Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) 5.0 is underway with the objective of enhancing immunization coverage for all vaccines specified in the National Immunization Schedule. This includes the Measles and Rubella vaccines for children up to 5 years of age. This initiative is being carried out in accordance with the directives of the Government of India (GoI).

While giving the information here today, a spokesperson said that the second round of IMI 5.0 is being conducted from 11th-16th September, 2023. During the second round, approximately 9800 sessions  are to be held and approx. 52,500 children of 0-2 years, 20,000 children of 2-5 years age group and approx. 13,700 pregnant women will also be administered due vaccines as per National Immunization schedule. Online portal- UWIN (Winning over Immunization) will be utilized for registrations and coverage reporting of the round.

Spokesperson further said, “The ultimate objective is to eliminate Measles and Rubella by the year 2023.Three rounds of IMI 5.0 will be conducted in all districts of Haryana, scheduled for the months of August, September, and October 2023. 1st Round was conducted from 7th-12th August 2023 wherein approximately 58,135 children of 0-5 years and approx. 15718 pregnant women were

IEP Chandigarh, September 12

Haryana Home, Health and Ayush Minister Anil Vij today inaugurated North India’s first Homeopathic Medical College Government Homeopathic Hospital at Rampur in Ambala Cantonment at a cost of Rs 60 lakh.

While addressing the people on this occasion, Home and AYUSH Minister Anil Vij said that another gem has been added to the glory of Ambala Cantonment. He said that a Homeopathic Medical College is going to be built at Chandpura in Ambala Cantonment at a cost of Rs 65 crore. The hospital which has been inaugurated today will be shifted there after it built a medical college. He said that as per the rules, before any medical college is functioning and before giving admission to the students, it is necessary for the hospital to be operational for two years. The AYUSH Minister said that admission will be carried out as per the prescribed criteria and merit also. 

He said that modern medical facilities will be available in the Government Homeopathic Hospital, which will have 20 beds along with two private rooms, minor OPD, labour room for delivery and soon X-ray and ultrasound machines will also be available here. This Government Homeopathic Hospital is the first Government Homeopathic Hospital in the states adjoining Haryana, he said. 

Sh. Vij said that the Haryana Government is continuously working to promote the AYUSH system. To promote alternative systems in the field of health, the Ministry of AYUSH and the Department of AYUSH were created separately. The world’s first Shri Krishna AYUSH University has been established in Kurukshetra. 

AYUSH Minister Anil Vij said that the nearby people will benefit from the government homeopathic hospital. He said that a National Center for Disease Control (NCDC) is being set up in Kardhan in Ambala.  Now the tests which used to be conducted in Delhi will now be conducted in Ambala. He said that there is Panchkarma Center in Subhash Colony of Ambala Cantonment. This is the best civil hospital of North India where there are more than three thousand OPDs every day. Diseases like cancer are being treated with modern machines through Atal Cancer Care Centre.  

Home Minister Anil Vij said that a Civil Enclave (domestic airport) for domestic flights will establish in Ambala and 20 acres of land has been taken from the Defense Ministry and an amount of Rs 133 crore has been deposited for it, the possession of this land will be received in the next two-three days. After this, a building will be built by spending an amount of Rs 16 crore. For which tenders will be opened on 14th September and this enclave will be expanded further.

Home Minister Anil Vij said that due to the floods in Ambala recently, people living on the other side of the Tangri river had to face a lot of problems, but now due to the construction of an embankment on the other side of the Tangri river, water will not go there. 

On this occasion, the Home Minister also said that under the development work in Ambala Cantonment, the construction work of a 40 kilometre ring road is being done, this will open new doors of development. Work is being done to build an international level Shaheed Smarak of the first war of independence on the Ambala Delhi National Highway. Along with this, the work of building a science museum is also going on. Similarly, Bank Square cum Shopping Mall, Subhash Park, FIFA Approved Football Stadium, Multilevel Car Parking and other projects are included, some of which have been completed and the works which are still in progress will also be completed as soon as possible. 

During the program, Director General of AYUSH Department, Dr. Saket welcomed the chief guest by presenting him a memento and shawl. On this occasion, Dr. Saket said that under the supervision of Home and AYUSH Minister Anil Vij, the entire Haryana The AYUSH department is continuously progressing. Under his guidance, health services are continuously improving. Under the leadership of the AYUSH Minister, people are improving their health through Panchkarma Center in Ambala Cantonment Subhash Colony, AYUSH Wing in Civil Hospital Ambala Cantonment as well as 15 Yogashalas. 

During the program, Director General of AYUSH Dr. Saket, SDM Satindra Siwach, ADM Vandana Sisodia, former Chairman Harprakash Sharma, BJP District Head Rajesh Bataura, District Council Chairman Rajesh Ladi, Divisional Head Rajeev Dimple, Bijendra Chauhan, Kiran Pal Chauhan, District Ayurvedic Officer Shashikant Sharma, BJP leader Kapil Vij, Shubham Vij, Jasbir Jassi, Fakir Chand Saini, Rohtash Saini, Ramkumar Saini, Ramesh Saini, Virendra, Shakti Singh, Sanjeev Walia, BS Bindra, Ajay Baweja, Jasbir Singh Jassi, Ravi Sehgal, Deepak Bhasin, Ashish Tayal, Ashish Gulati, Sudarshan Sehgal, Ravi Chaudhary, Gopi Sehgal, Lalita Prasad, Surendra Tiwari, Vishal Batra, Neelam Sharma along with other officials and dignitaries were present.

IEP Chandigarh, September 9

“Every year nearly 7 lakh people take their own life and there are many more people who attempt suicide. Suicide occurs throughout the lifespan and was the fourth leading cause of death among 15–29 year olds globally in 2019. Nearly 14% of the world’s adolescents experience mental health problems.”

On the eve of World Suicide Prevention Day while stating this, Dr. Vibha Goel, psychiatrist at IVY Hospital, Mohali said that suicide is a tragedy affecting families, communities and has long-lasting effects on the people left behind a parallel can be drawn between an untreated mental disorder and the risk of suicide.

She further said , “ It can happen impulsively in moments of crisis, or in situations a person is experiencing conflict, disaster, violence, and abuse. A callous, unemotional, insensitive attitude of the society directed towards the suffers is concerning and understanding the myths associated with depression and suicide are of utmost concern.”

One of the most heard of myth is that a mental health condition is a sign of weakness. If the person were stronger, they would not have this condition. To the contrary anyone whosever can develop a mental health condition, she informed.

However, the issues are usually left untreated as they are assumed to be a part of mood swings caused by hormonal fluctuations and a continuous desire to seek attention.

Dr Vibha said that the faulty adjectives and the derogatory remarks used by the family members and other members of the society towards mental health problems leads to increased reluctance in the sufferers to disclose as it might cause social distancing.
It is of fundamental necessity to curb the stigma, abuse and neglect associated with mental illnesses. Anyone, whosoever at whatever position in life can suffer from any form of psychiatric illness, she maintained.  

It is okay to not be okay and also it is okay to reach out and seek help, she said adding pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy are both the recommended modalities of treatment and the pharmacological treatment directed towards psychiatric illnesses is to restore the balance between the neuro-chemicals.

IEP Chandigarh

A National Eye Donation fortnight was celebrated by Govt. of India every year from 24^th August to 8^th September wherein health institutes and other stake holders are encouraged to campaign for mass public awareness for eye donation and to motivate citizens to pledge their eyes after death.  At present, around 1.2 million people are corneal blind in India and current annual transplant number in the country is 25000- 30000. In PGIMER, around 2200 patients are waiting for their corneal transplantation but the hospital gets only 400-500 corneas every year. The objective of this fortnight is to create mass public awareness and to bridge the gap between the demand and supply of cornea.

As a part of this Programme, 38^th National Eye Donation Fortnight was celebrated in PGI from 24^th August to 8^th September 2023 with lecture series on eye donation in schools, colleges and public places for public awareness.  In addition, painting competitions, article writing competitions and other activities were also organized in schools on eye donation.

To mark this year’s celebration an Eye Donation walk was organized on 3.9.2023 from Rock Garden to Sukhna Lake with Mrs. Kanwardeep Kaur, IPS, Senior Superintendent of Police, UT Chandigarh participated as Chief Guest. The objective of this walk to spread the awareness among public towards eye donation after death.

Various competitions like Poster making, Rangoli making and Pencil sketches with the theme of नेत्र दान, महा दान were organized by SNA, UT Chandigarh branch in association with Advanced Eye Centre on 05.09.2023 at National Institute of Nursing Education (NINE) of PGIMER, Chandigarh.  

Dr. Parul Chawla Gupta, Associate Professor of Advanced Eye Centre delivered guest lecture at Dev Samaj College of Education, Sector – 36 B, Chandigarh regarding awareness of Eye Donation on 08.09.2023. The Chief Guest on this occasion was Prof. Surinder Singh Pandav, Head, Advanced Eye Centre, PGIMER, Chandigarh.

The winners of painting competitions were felicitated at Advanced Eye Centre, PGI, Chandigarh at the culmination of the fortnight on 09.09.2023, Prof SS Pandav, Head, Advanced Eye Centre, PGIMER, Chandigarh. The function was also attended by the Cornea faculty of the Advanced Eye Centre comprising of Prof Amit Gupta, Dr Parul Chawla Gupta, Dr Sonam Yangzes, Dr Anchal Thakur and Sh Sanjeev Gupta and other members of Lions Club central, Chandigarh besides other staff of Advanced Eye Centre, PGIMER, Chandigarh.

Besides this, messages of eye donation had been displayed at prominent places including religious places with collaboration of Lions club central, Chandigarh for sensitization of public regarding this noble cause.   

IEP Chandigarh, September 8

The Haryana Government has taken steps to decriminalize certain laws and Acts. The objective of this exercise is to improve the ease of doing business and ease of living for citizens by reducing burdensome compliances prescribed in the Acts/Rules. The exercise aims to simplify, digitize, decriminalize, and rationalize compliances.

While presiding over the meeting regarding decriminalization of Laws/Acts here today, the Chief Secretary, Mr. Sanjeev Kaushal has directed all Administrative Secretaries to submit a report on the decriminalization of laws and Acts in their respective departments within a fortnight. Additionally, the departments have been tasked with reviewing 319 Acts to identify provisions that could be decriminalized.

Mr. Kaushal said that the primary goal is to avoid registering FIRs, imprisoning people, or putting them on trial for minor violations of these laws, which are not serious in nature. Instead of treating them as criminal acts, they may be treated as civil offenses or regulated through administrative measures, fines, or other non-criminal penalties. The goal is to foster a business- and industry-friendly environment within the state, recognizing that certain minor transgressions may occur as part of regular work and should not be categorized as criminal offenses. He said that various departments of the state government have taken this initiative enthusiastically and so far, 28 Acts have been successfully decriminalized.

Mr. Kaushal said that the departments are actively engaged in the exercise and have been conducting an exhaustive analysis of Acts, Rules, Regulations, and Notifications to reduce the burdensome compliances in the state. Since the inception of the “Reducing Compliance Burden Exercise”, Haryana has reduced the burden of over 500 compliances, including the decriminalization of Acts across departments.