Not much light is shed on the lives of persons with deformities and disabilities. Latest medical interventions can bring about changes in their lives. Hundreds.. err crores of people are suffering silently as the Indian public health care is not able to meet their requirements.

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competition ...II www.thehansindia.com HYDERABAD | TUESDAY 25 SEPTEMBER 2012 song and dance ...IV
Living in the shadow
Public-private ventures vital to help people with disability
VENU KODIMELA me to reach out to the poor,”
says Dr Swain, while speak-
T
hey lead an awful life ing about his father‘s influ-
and prefer to live in ence on his life.
shadow. They rarely Dr Swain believes that
cross our lives, as they are public-private partnership
afraid that their very pres- alone could bring huge bene-
ence would cause discomfi- fits to the poor, as it is a gi-
GHMC Commissioner M T Krishna Babu inspecting COP-11 works ture for ‘normal’ people. If gantic effort to reach out to
they happen to be poor, then the PWD, organise them,
Commissioner inspects their lives are doomed for
eternity. The indignities they
suffer are many, since they
are considered bad omen.
screen them, take care of
their travel, accommodation,
hospitalisation and follow-
ups. The trust works closely
COP-11 works Sometimes they are named
after snakes.Girls suffering
from a rare skin disorder of
with leading doctors, corpo-
rates and governmental agen-
cies.
M
T Krishna Babu, ers on footpaths here. Com- Engineer to impose huge genetic origin are called A 100-bed world class
Commissioner, missioner gave ultimatum penalty to the Vodafone au- Nagamani or Nagamma. A medical centre is coming up
Greater Hyder- to contractors to finish the thorities so that others case in point is 44-year-old in the city with the aim of
abad Municipal Commis- footpath work that has al- should not take such steps Paila Nagamani. With a treating 60 percent of pa-
sioner along with other ready been sanctioned long and to curb illegal road cut- huge tumour dangling from tients free of cost or at sub-
officials inspected the back. Krishna Babu also tings. her left eye she has been suf- sidised rates and others at
progress of ongoing works warned that on failure of He also gave instruction fering in silence for years. affordable rates.
of COP-11 at the footpaths finishing work within three to finish ongoing works re- She and her sister from Eluru This year about 40 cases
stretch from Sarojinidevi months contractors will be lated to COP-11 at Road town live on the dole handed from West Godavari district
Eye hospital, Mehdipatnam blacklisted. Instructions No 36, Kavuri Hills Junc- by their relatives and friends. were operated upon at
to Masabtank road today. were given to dispose waste tion and road widening People with deformities Dr Bharatendu Swain attending a patient Apollo Hospital in the first
He inspected footpath, materials that will be there works at Ayyappa society, and disabilities struggle to week of March. Screening
greenery and road widening after footpath works. Central medians near pursue education, get jobs, due to defects in his nasal People with deformities and disabilities camps were conducted at
works and gave directions Next sight that attracted Shilparamam and the and move freely without cavity. Vikarabad, Chilukur, Ma-
to concerned officers to fin- disappointment of the works pertaining to paint- drawing undue attention to Gunda Ramayamma, a struggle to pursue education, get jobs, habubnagar, Medak, Sid-
ish them on time. Commissioner was lots of ing to Mini Charminar at their impairment. It is esti- 50-year-old woman from and move freely without drawing undue dipet and Hyderabad. So far,
Lots of boards, tree gaps within plantation at Hi-tech City in three days. mated that 10 percent of Lingapalem village with a attention to their impairment. It is esti- 584 patients have benefitted
branches and two vehicles footpath dividers Banjara He also directed the Ad- population is disabled in one cleft lip, attended a health by attending the free plastic
parked at the footpaths that Hill Road No 1, 2 and 3. ditional commissioner form or another. camp organised at Eluru mated that 10 percent of population is surgery camps.
affect to free flow of pedes- The Commissioner ob- (Parks) to take up the green- In another case, a youth town in February this year. disabled in one form or another. A month after surgery,
trians irked Commissioner. served illegal road cutting ery works on either side of from Markondapadu village She told a surgeon, who con- Nagamani, who had been
Despite his earlier instruc- by Vodafone authorities the roads, i.e., main stretch nurtured a dream to join the ducted the screening camp, suffering from plexiform neu-
tions, concerned officials near Jalagam Vengal Rao from Aramghar to police force as a constable. that she too deserves good with gaping holes in their as per the 2001 census esti- rofibroma was on the look-
did not sort out the issue of Park and he directed the Shamshabad. Bhaira Raju, 24 years, life. In rural areas, a majority mouth. Such children need mates. The present public out for a job, while Raju
people parking two wheel- concerned Superintendent sculpted his body, but failed of children born with cleft lip extra care, as even a slight fall health care infrastructure cleared obstacles for the con-
to clear physical tests during and cleft palate are left to might hurt them grievously. fails to meet the needs of the stable’s post.
the 5 km marathon. During their fate. The parents strug- The parents keep postponing disabled even though 70% of “Disgusting look on the
Incentives for selections, Raju collapsed gle to raise the children born the surgery, as they can’t af-
ford travel and hospitalisa-
tion expenses even if the
treatment is free.
them could be restored to
near normalcy with appropri-
ate medical interventions and
aids. Dr Bharatendu Swain,
faces of strangers made me
cringe. The lump on the fore-
head spread to the left eye
and made my life miserable,”
anti-larval drive As per the National Sam-
ple Survey conducted in
2002, there are 2.08 crore
persons with disability. The
senior reconstructive sur-
geon, Apollo Hospital, de-
cided to establish one of the
finest centers of excellence in
recalled Nagamani, after the
operation.
Durga Naresh, a 22-year-
old barber from Chintalpudi,
M
T Krishna Babu, He directed the medical val operations and he has survey shows that 75 percent Hyderabad so as to bring a is today a free man. A small
Commissioner, officers for effective imple- proposed incentives for the of PWD live in rural areas; change in the lives of dis- lump on his forehead began
GHMC, Syed Ali mentation of OSRT system 30 days programme. 49 percent of them are liter- abled, “who would never to swell and grow bigger with
Murtuza Rizvi, Collector, with proper time schedule Nearly 70 to 80 hot spots ate and only 34 percent are have dared to dream a nor- age. He tried all kinds of
Hyderabad along with med- and lifting of garbage from have been identified in some employed. mal life.” tricks to cover his head with
ical officers held a meeting time to time and coordinat- of the slums for anti larval However, the national He wants to carry forward his hair. After the operation,
with regard to communica- ing with the staff so that the operations. The commis- Centre for Promotion of Em- the legacy of his father late he isn’t afraid of customers
ble diseases for their control work will be up to the ex- sioner has directed the chief ployment for Disabled Peo- Narasingh Swain by institut- and their comments at his fa-
and prevention at Panwar pectations. Some of the doc- entomologist to take up the ple (CPEDP) put the total ing a trust in his name in ther’s saloon.
Hall on Monday. The com- tors have briefed the works on priority basis at number at 7.5 crore, of 2001. Under aegis of the The lives of 40-odd per-
missioner directed all the Commissioner that the the identified hot spots. which 7.5 percent is em- trust, Aakar Asha was sons have changed for the
medical officers to be vigil workers are not taking up L Vandan Kumar, Addi- ployed in public sector un- started in 2004 with the aim better, one way or the other.
while performing their du- anti larval operations in tional Commissioner dertakings and .005 percent of helping the disabled to It must be remembered that
ties and to identify the hot most areas and proposed to (H&S), Sri Rathna Joseph, employed in private sector. lead a normal life through others, numbering millions,
spots and special focus must give some good incentives. Chief Entomologist, all the The World Bank report state-of-the art reconstructive also deserve a helping hand
be taken care for these hot Commissioner (H&S) medical officers of 18 circles puts the figure at 50-80 mil- surgery, rehabilitation and to end their misery. The pol-
spots for prevention and and Chief Entomologist to and other senior officials of lion, of which 49 per cent are cutting-edge research. icy makers and eminent doc-
control of the communica- involve Slum Level Federa- the Health Wing partici- physically disabled. There “My father’s commitment tors in the field should join
ble diseases. tion workers in the anti-lar- pated in the meeting. are about 4.5 lakh physically to work, simplicity and com- hands to make the world a
A soothing touch by a doctor does wonders disabled people in the State passion for people inspired better place for the disabled.
New age libraries widen horizons Commuting woes
T P VENU ample area and good furni-
ture, with a special area just
without queues
SATISHRAJ MEDAPATLA
E
ven as the debate on for children.
whether FDI in retail Radhika Naidu, a house-
I
would wipe out the wife, says, “My children n olden days victorious
mom and pop stores rages, a speak to their cousins living armies used to hoist flags
silent revolution of sorts is abroad who suggest titles and on forts to claim authority
taking place in the library we get them in no time at the over the kingdom. Similarly,
space. The gold old one-room library. Another positive is during rush hours at main
neighbourhood libraries are that these days there are very bus stands one can witness
making way to swanky, air- good books with lovely pic- people reserving seats by
conditioned ones, which are tures. I hated History as we throwing kerchiefs or handy
coming up in various parts of had to mug up dates and items on the seats of the
the city. facts, but now there are lovely buses.
In spite of concerns that books with great illustrations While a person can book
reading habits have taken a and kids love them.” tickets online well in advance,
hit and that the advent of e- but for spot travellers includ-
books have eaten into the Beyond books ing seniors and those with
market space for physical One may call it a market- children and luggage, there is
books; the general perception ing gimmick or whatever,but a stiff competition with the It is time to stop the unofficial system of
is that libraries per se can be the trend today is to pack ac- agile in catching the running
good business and all you tivities, games, quiz pro- buses and throwing some booking seats in buses by placing
need to do is to adapt to grammes and book reading handy item on the seats to re- handkerchiefs and entering the buses
newer ways of reaching out to sessions at these libraries -- serve seats for long journeys.
readers and provide the right something unheard-of in the In rush hours, it is a com- before the bus arrives at bus stand.
type of ambience. This is past. mon sight of crowd scuffling
where some new age libraries A member in one of the libraries in the city Books N More in West to get a hold on footboard of push their way out of the allow any persons to get into
seem to have clicked. Marredpally and Treasure the bus to squeeze in through crowd of other seat seekers buses before it comes into the
Just Books, a brainchild of another feature that sets them Kharkhana, Secunderabad other localities as well. House in Banjara Hills have the door, which allows only and the smart ones who bus bay and completely disal-
R Sundar Rajan, former Ora- apart. For instance, they use says, “With 6 lakh books One common feature in all been organising many activi- one at a time; and those with booked seats by placing low the unofficial mode of
cle consultant, is among the RFID to track books. If a under the banner,the mem- the new age libraries is that ties like handwriting work- children and luggage putting handy items through win- placing items and reserving
pioneers in new age libraries. member wants a particular bers are assured of getting the membership plans are de- shops, scrabble, basic up extra energy to gain entry. dows. seats, it can provide relief to
It has 69 libraries in India. In book which is then not avail- what they want.” signed to suit every pocket photography and painting Even if one wins the battle at After getting down, the thousands of bus travellers in-
just one year, it has set up four able in the library, he can just Filiko Books is another li- and taste. People can take classes. footboard, the moment of spot travellers gear up to gain cluding aged, women, and
libraries in Hyderabad and type out the name of the book brary in Sainikpuri. Started from one book to even ten Mahima Jain, a painter glory is lost within seconds entry into another bus. The children every day. The sys-
the fifth one is coming up in and author. Through online by K Murali Krishna, it caters books at a time; there is a and mother of two, says, “I when they find youngsters al- ordeal continues till they too tem will also bring relief to
Miyapur. records it is easy to know mainly to nearby areas. With package for everyone. An- first took my child to Treas- ready seated on more than become smart or wait for the increasing number of sen-
What makes these libraries which of the other branches neatly stacked racks, air-con- other stark difference is the ure House to make use of the half of the seats available in RTC booking counter facility ior citizens where only two
tick is the vast collection of or library in other parts of the ditioned area and ample ambience of these libraries, books, but these activities too bus and reserving the rest for that is available for spot trav- seats are reserved for them in
neat books stacked in largely country has it. Then, the space, the library has enrolled where, unlike in the case of helped. They bring out the in- their kith and strangers. To ellers, but only at scheduled a bus. It will also allow trav-
walls-free rooms with a lovely manager makes a request and 450 members in a span of one yesteryear libraries, one can trinsic abilities of children get off the bus, the dismayed hours in a day. ellers to avail seats on first
ambience. gets it. Manisha Mohan, the year. The management is afford to sit for as long as one and also help the kids shed seat losers along with their If RTC could induct a sim- come first basis instead of
The use of technology is franchisee of Just Books, looking to open new ones in likes. Most of them have their inhibitions, if any.” luggage, once again have to ple queue system and not using strength and agility.