Regrets, a rally & curses the morning after


A.S.R.P. MUKESH & RAJ KUMAR

A distressed guard

Ranchi, April 28: Till 4.55pm yesterday, veteran guard Mahavir had never heard such an uncanny scream.

It was short and died in a gurgle. It was the last sound that 19-year-old Khusboo made, as the khukuri of “good friend” Bijendra Prasad (23) severed her head from her body just outside the examination hall (room No. 41) at St Xavier’s College. The murder took less than 10 seconds and the dark youth, clad in blue trousers and a red T-shirt, had already dropped the khukuri on the floor and started to sprint towards the playground.

Mahavir, just 100ft away, was the first to shout and run after the youth. It was his timely alert that made the hostel students on the playground catch and overpower Bijendra.

A deserted corridor

But this does not comfort the man, now in his mid-50s. “The killer was arrested on campus, but I wish I could have saved the girl’s life. This feeling will stay with me throughout my life,” he said.

Mahavir, till yesterday, loved the campus, abuzz with youthful energy and students’ conversation. “Now it is different. The incident will not fade out of my memory,” the elderly man said softly.

St Xavier’s College held classes today till 11am and the Jharkhand Academic Council’s intermediate examination was scheduled for the second half. The same exam that Khusboo would have taken, had she been alive.

Examination controller A.K. Sinha said the girl’s grandmother might have had an inkling.

“Later in the evening, we came to know the boy was scolded by the girl’s grandmother outside campus. She should have at least alerted us about the harassment. We could have restrained the girl in the exam room or informed the police,” he said.

Though principal Nicholas Tete claimed everything was “normal on premises today”, an eerie silence belied his words. “We did as much as was possible yesterday. We didn’t let the murderer go and he is behind bars now. What else can we do?” Tete asked.

An examinee who was present at ground zero

Not many students came forward to speak, the stately corridors were empty and the playground, deserted. But some did hit the streets for a peace rally to under the banner Save India Trust (floated by Xaverians) at Albert Ekka Chowk in the morning to defend their college’s reputation.

“Please don’t demean our college. No one likes such incident on campus. It’s time to stand united,” second-year BCom student Suraj Sharma said. Recalling the incident, Sharma said: “Everyone went speechless, the girls (classmates) started weeping uncontrollably. For the moment, we thought we would never return to the campus. But we realised this is not the solution. So, we are out to spread the message of peace,” he said.

Meanwhile, this morning, the police produced Bijendra before the court of chief judicial magistrate Sita Ram Prasad, who forwarded him to a 14-day judicial custody at Birsa Munda Central Jail, where he was showered with curses from those present.

“The boy should be shot dead,” thundered Archana Sabu, a woman advocate.

Pictures by Hardeep Singh


http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110429/jsp/jharkhand/story_13917234.jsp

Tring...tring! Emergency, got pizza?

A.S.R.P. MUKESH

Ranchi, April 22: Every time the phone inside the emergency ambulance control room at Rajendra Institute of Medical Science (RIMS) rings, attendants either nonchalantly pick up the receiver or struggle with the idea of ignoring the call.

It is not exactly dereliction of duty. They sure do empathise with people in need of urgent medical attention, but are tired of pranks.

“Ever since the emergency numbers (102, 2541228) were floated three years ago, we have been swamped with such calls. We are often unable to decide which call is genuine and which is not,” said Vinod Kumar, a RIMS telephone operator in the afternoon shift.

“On an average, I receive a minimum of 50-60 calls a day and 99 per cent of them come from pranksters. Some are smut calls too. These days, I hang up as soon as I hear a female voice at the other end,” he added.
The intensity of calls increases during the night.

“You can’t ignore a call being on hospital duty. There may be an emergency and your negligence may cost a life. But most of the time the caller abuses us; sometimes, they demand pizza or coffee and sometimes, they wish to get more intimate,” Umesh, a night telephone operator said.

Operator Kumar, who is working at the hospital for three years now, said he had never received a serious call for ambulance.

RIMS director Tulsi Mahto agreed. He claimed the hospital management was helpless since even police complaints had failed to check the nuisance. “I gave a written complaint to the SSP, but nothing came out of it,” he said, pointing out that the men in uniform too were grappling with crank calls. “The SSP said they faced similar problems at Dial 100, the fire and police helpline.”

To curb the menace, the hospital had connected a parallel line to the offices of assistant casualty officer, chief medical officer and PRO on the premises. “But they refused to monitor calls after a day. The calls are often so abusive that no one wants to receive them,” Mahto said.

“I have asked the operators to keep saying, ‘welcome to RIMS’, whenever they face pranksters or smut calls. No one can be forced to tolerate such a situation,” he added.

The RIMS management has recently also installed a caller ID. “But it is very difficult to keep tab always. The hospital witnesses heavy rush all day long. No one has time,” the director said.

When contacted, Ranchi SSP Praveen Kumar said the number of crank calls on Dial 100 had decreased after they rounded up some culprits in the past. “It is a time-taking, but we trapped 10-15 callers, mostly young people, who were creating such nuisance. They were released with a warning,” he said.

“We have asked the RIMS authorities to tap numbers and forward them to us for action,” he added.

A view of Simdega forest



State foresters go the dodo way

A.S.R.P. MUKESH
Ranchi, April 8: They may be at the heart of wildlife conservation, but are a vanishing breed themselves.

A top-heavy forest department brimming with IFS officers has left Jharkhand with a handful of forest guards and range officers — the real custodians of the green corridors.

According to records, 2,072 out of 3,398 posts of forest guards are lying vacant for the last 20 years. The number of vacancies for posts of range officers, foresters and assistant conservators are only marginally better. (see box).

Since its formation in 2000, the thrust in Jharkhand has been on creation of multiple posts in the upper tiers of the department, resulting in a low number of field staff.

Contrary to other states, Jharkhand has created three posts of principal chief conservator of forest (PCCF), five additional principal chief conservator of forests (APCCF), over two dozen chief conservators and several conservators, regional chief conservators and divisional forest officers (DFO).

The departments in other states generally comprise one PCCF, a couple of APCCF and few chief conservators.

On the flip side, Jharkhand boasts of a limited number of forest guards, rangers and foresters, who work under extreme conditions with inadequate infrastructure.

Sources in the forest department’s HRD and personnel wing revealed that a majority of personnel in the lower tiers were set to retire in a year.

“Sadly, a majority of the workforce are now retiring without getting any promotion, in contrast to senior officers,” said a conservator.

In such a scenario, there is little left to wonder at, considering the sorry status of wildlife conservation, maintenance of sanctuaries and monitoring of green corridors in the last two decades.

Be it the crocodile breeding centre at Muta, the overpopulated deer park at Kalamati, a ill maintained Palamau Tiger Reserve or inability to check elephant displacement in Dalma, the manpower crunch at the ground level has had a debilitating effect.

Forest officials pointed out that inclusion of the forest division for implementation of MGNREGS projects was also taking a toll.

“Earlier, social schemes were run and implemented with the help of block development officers, but now are proving to be an extra burden on the foresters,” said a DFO.

“Foresters and range officers are the actual strength of the department. Forget about recruiting, they are not even paid properly,” state wildlife advisory board member D.S. Srivastava said.

Besides wildlife conservation, guards and foresters are also capable of playing a vital role in checking the Naxalite menace in the state.

“Since foresters are familiar with jungles, locals are likely to bond with them more easily than security forces. Filling up of the vacant posts will strengthen the joint forest management task forces,” said a range officer, Ranchi division.

Additional chief secretary A.K. Sarkar, who holds charge of the forest department, said a proposal for reviewing state forest cadre was pending with the Centre.

Anna crusade leaves capital cold
- Youngsters don’t know or don’t care about Gandhian’s anti-graft fast

A.S.R.P. MUKESH

A first year college girl of one of the top colleges of Ranchi, St Xavier's asks who is Anna Hazare? Picture by Hardeep Singh




Ranchi, April 8: It seems the capital is almost happy asking “Anna, who?”

Barring a few crusaders such as city doctor R.K. Jaiswal who began his “indefinite fast” at Albert Ekka Chowk today, Ranchi is largely blase even as Gandhian Anna Hazare’s fast-unto-death protest against all-pervasive corruption reaches its fourth day today at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi.

Ironically, numerous scams have crawled out of the capital’s woodwork in 10 years of Jharkhand’s existence.

Even youths are mum when it’s time to stand up and be counted. Just a week ago, the city had gone berserk, shouting its lungs out for local hero M.S. Dhoni. Youngsters had zipped on bikes flaunting Tricolours, painting their faces.

Now, the biggest difference is their indifference.

“I have my exams next month,” Sudhir Kumar, a BCom student of Marwari College, excused himself.

Some simply don’t know or care.

A group of giggling girls from St Xavier’s went mum, while some shopped for cosmetics. “Yes, we’ve heard the name but don’t know what he is fighting for,” said Mahek Kumari, a first-year student.

Over a dozen students’ unions in the city which often gherao colleges and universities on corruption-based issues were oblivious to events at Jantar Mantar. “Tomorrow is our foundation day, so we are busy,” said Kumar Raja, state president of National Students’ Union of India.

Few scattered groups, mostly of senior citizens, took out rallies. ABVP members held a placard march.

“If you wait for others to join you, you can’t start anything,” Jaiswal said.

“Many youths don’t know how to begin,” said Father J.P. Pinto, principal of St Albert College at Karbala road. Pinto approached cradles such as St Xavier’s and St John’s for today’s march but they didn’t take much interest.

Professor P.C. Choudhary, head of sociology department of Ranchi University, said youths had different priorities. “Youths in Ranchi are aspirational. Dhoni’s success, movies, film stars and such things are their dreams, not social activism,” he said.

Some social workers whom The Telegraph tried contacting, were either travelling or busy with other assignments. “I’ll wait today. If nothing positive comes out of Annaji’s ongoing protest, we will also plan a movement in front of Raj Bhavan,” social activist Balram, adding “I’m also observing a fast.”

Dayamani Barla of Adivasi Moolwasi Astitva Raksha Manch said: “We have other priorities as Ranchi is reeling under encroachment-related tension, rehab issues, et al. But, our support is with Anna.” Indeed.


go to this link for newspaper version: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110409/jsp/jharkhand/story_13831108.jsp