Daily Excelsior... Editorial

EDITORIAL

By J R Aryan

By Dr Arun Sharma

Any hospital's performance is dependent on multiple factors like capital structure, available infrastructure, technological acquisition, spectrum of clinical services, specialists and culture of the hospital. Each of these parameters plays a major role in patient's decision to avail the service of the hospital. If we consider the public . . . .........more

Hydrogen engergy

By Pallab Bhattacharya

When industrialist Ratan Tata submited the National Hydrogen Energy Road Map document to Union Non-Conventional Energy Minister Vilas Muttemwar on November 21, it represented another major stride taken by India in its quest not only for energy security but .......more

EDITORIAL

Hasten with care

All right-thinking persons will agree with the note of caution struck by Parliament's Standing Committee on External Affairs on preparing roadmap of peace with Pakistan. In its latest report the panel has correctly underlined the difference between "vital interests of the nation" and friendly ties with the neighbouring countries. It understands the necessity of honouring sentiments of the global community about normalcy and tranquility in this part of the world. Yet, it has sounded enough warning that the country should not lower its guard in the process. Its observation in this behalf is apt and needs to be put on record: "The compulsions generated by the concerns of the international community over the perpetual tension prevailing between two nuclear powers should not force the Government into hastening the pace in an unrealistic manner." The Committee has evidently found it difficult to ignore "the grave danger inherent in the situation" because "the terrorist training camps inside Pakistan's territory are still operating". The mere incidence of infiltration into Jammu and Kashmir coming down has not allayed anxiety about the threat lurking in the backyard. Not surprisingly, therefore, the Committee has felt constrained to advise the Union Government that it "should not allow itself to be taken by surprise at any stage". Obviously it wants the Government to take an overview of the scenario. It has lauded the official machinery for "praiseworthy" decisive and bold moves to develop relations with the neighbours. At the same time it has emphasised the necessity for taking the "greatest care" particularly in view of the unending terrorist arrangements being made in Pakistan. Who will say no to this?

Pakistan keeps exhibiting its Kashmir itch time and again. At regular intervals its President Pervez Musharraf himself comes up with one recipe or the other for resolving the Kashmir problem. His latest formula is "self-rule" for Kashmiris. This has come after his "seven-region" proposal followed by another to let the Line of Control "melt" in the wake of the October 8 earthquake. The joke is that each time after opening his cards he says that it is no-show. He insists on every occasion that all that he has done is to provide a basis for discussion. In fact on the issue of throwing open the LoC for relief and rehabilitation measures he had started looking around in the face of specific Indian offer to unlock at least five points. Let alone "melt" he won't demonstrate readiness even for making provision for more entry and exit gates. Clearly he has been adopting a deceptive ploy to draw India into a debate thereby tempting it to concede that J&K is a disputed territory. One can understand that the General's diplomatic skills are not finely tuned. Why should he think, however, that the others are equally naïve? In fairness to him the Pakistan President has at times meant well to promote harmony in the sub-continent. But occasionally he makes utterances which straightaway remind one of his "Kargil" misadventure --- a practice which if not stopped can negate his entire good job. He must know that no government in this country will allow itself to fall in his trap. New Delhi has called Pakistan's diplomatic bluffs now and then. It had foiled Pakistan's armed confrontations in 1947, 1965, 1971 and 1999. It is to be welcomed that it is displaying the similar fortitude in battles of wit.

What is amusing, however, is that quite a few State leaders have their own versions of "self-rule" Mirwaiz Moulvi Umar Farooq, young leader of the moderate Hurriyat Conference, has already discussed it with the Pakistan President, if one goes by the reports of their meeting on a foreign soil. What is known on record is that the Mirwaiz is thinking about something like the "United States of Kashmir". An amazing development is the eagerness attributed to youthful National Conference president Omar Abdullah to meet Gen Musharraf in Islamabad and present him with his party's "greater autonomy" document. What do they have in common? The NC stands for secular politics while Gen Musharraf heads a theocratic country. Whatever that may be the history suddenly assumes relevance in the present context. Maharaja Hari Singh had offered Pakistan something more honourable for the inhabitants of this State than any other pact could have done. It was the Standstill Agreement in 1947. Pakistan had accepted it with glee only to first stifle the State by blocking food and other essential commodities and then attacking it with the help of tribals. Nothing has happened in the intervening period to suggest that Pakistan's evil designs have changed. Its repeated defeats and ignominy of the division of the country and surrender of about one lakh soldiers in 1971 has embittered it further against New Delhi as well as the "Kashmiris". Let nobody lose sight of this reality. That is why the Standing Committee's advice is timely. It is perfectly valid not only for the Central Government but also the wavering State leaders who perhaps need to be reminded that Pakistan's theory of self-rule envisages an Islamic extension without secular Kashmiris.

Makes sense

It is understandable if government departments share services provided by each other. After all they are also consumers and need water, electricity and accommodation to do their jobs. Being part of the same apparatus their transactions are invariably recorded on paper which again is explicable. It is important at the same time that their books are in order and they don't pile up the arrears. However, without fail it has been found that those providing essential services in particular are also the biggest losers as they don't get paid for in time. The State Power Development Department (PDD) is in this unfortunate category. Concerned Minister Rigzin Jora has brought home this bitter truth in an interview with this newspaper. To his surprise and anguish he has found (he has been in the job for less than two months) that almost all government departments are defaulters with the Public Health Engineering and Irrigation and Flood Control on top of the list. The PDD thus finds itself in a piquant situation. It pays to buy power from outside the State but is unable to recover its dues from its counterparts in the administration. On a moral plane this weakens its case for recovery from the ordinary consumers. It appears that the PDD has cut off the supply of power to huts of the Tourism Development Corporation which has not cleared the outstanding amount. It will make sense if a similar prescription is applied for other defaulting wings of the government.

Grant district status to Kishtwar

By J R Aryan

Today voice of Kishtwar for its District status still echoes from all its nooks and corners. Be it Wadwan, Marwah or Dachhan, Padder or Chhatroo, Sarthal or Banjwa, Nagseni, Thakrai or the Kishtwar HQ itself all have only one choice through one voice from one dais to express their solid view that District for Kishtwar is overdue. From Kishtwar be it Congress or National Conference, BJP or PDP Panthers or BSP or any other party, all have a unanimous claim for the common cause to find that Kishtwar gets its due place and status by being declared as a District for which it fully qualifies from every consideration. History, Geography, population, topography, demography and cultural heritage which define the status of a place or region all stand in a queue to strongly advocate and argue that Kishtwar has enough to justify and qualify to be a District.

In volumes and bundles has already been spoken, written and expressed by many spokespersons, writers, analysts, intellectuals, historians and intelligentia of Kishtwar as well as of the J&K State, as also by me in my many previous articles justifying District status for Kishtwar on the basis of facts and figures and ground realities.

A peep into the past some two to three decades back reminds us of the days when Kishtwar was under a charged atmosphere when the people of all communities and shades regardless of caste, creed and colour, age or image had enmasse launched a big agitation demanding Distt status and Degree College for Kishtwar. Four youths (two Hindus and two Muslims) laid down their lives for the cause, having faced the bullets of the then Administration. ''Shaheedi Mazar'' at Kishtwar where these youths were given the last but eternal send- off remains as an everlasting memory of these Martyrs. It was this agitation that gave birth to Wazir Commission when the then Govt had to set up the commission to assess the ground realities in respect of creation of District for Kishtwar as well as possibilities of creation of Districts and Constituencies in other parts of the State on rational basis to remove disparities. The Commission under noble mission recommended four districts in all with three for Jammu Province with Kishtwar on priority and one for Kashmir province. But this came as an eye-sore for the people of the valley and irked the leadership of Kashmir who found it as a bitter pill to swallow apprehending that three Districts for Jammu region would mean more Assembly Constituencies for Jammu Province to bring it at par with Kashmir Province in respect of representation in legislature and ultimately go to snatch the driver's seat of the Cabinet for Jammu Province. But these leaders did not care for the truth that the number of electorate as per the parliamentary elections of 1998 was more in Jammu province than that of Kashmir province. After 1998 the electorate has further decreased in the valley due to migration and other allied reasons. The leadership of Kashmir has thus been opposing the Wazir Commission tooth and nail from the day first with the result that the Commission's report till date has not been implemented by any Govt or ruler. This is the sole reason that the cause of Kishtwar too has suffered a lot and got chopped up under the tussle of the political power muscle.

The slogan of Wazir Commission and implementation of its recommendation did echo aloud in the election campaign of Congress as well as Panthers and it is this slogan that served to provide a life line towards a big victory to these parties in Jammu region to become the major partners of the coalition Govt in J&K- the people of Jammu having voted open heartedly for them under the faith that regional imbalances and disparities shall find an exit under their regime. But, as ill luck would have it, the Congress and the Panthers failed to make any headway or impact in implementation of Commission's recommendations during the three years rule of the healing touch regime of Mufti Sahib who proved himself fair and square, true and loyal in implementing his well engineered healing touch policy as per his own calculated mathematics set criteria and the mission and who like all other Kashmiri leaders did not care a fig for the Wazir Commission by dumping it in cold storage for hibernation to be in omission again, despite the fact that it was very much in the common minimum agenda of the coalition Govt. He too played the same political game to keep the pot boiling.

Non implementation of the Commission's report or prolonging it further is bound to enhance regional and communal disharmony and hatred. The voice for a separate Jammu State and Union Territory for Ladakh is bound to gain momentum, strength and justification under the given situation and the State shall undoubtedly head for trifurcation.

The Govt or the Governments could have granted the districts one by one in a phased manner on priority, need and on rational basis as per the ground realities to come up to the expectations of the affected people and regions to earn their good wishes and blessings of the Almighty but the political virus did not allow any good decision to come up. In fact, it has always been there to cause fear to the ruling chair.

Now when this chair has been occupied the Gh Nazi Azad- a veteran, seasoned balanced, experienced and a shrewd politician of National and International repute known for his right thinking, unbiased policies and positive decisions and above all high integrity who having made a historical landmark to be the first CM of J&K from Jammu Province and that too hailing from a region generally called ''&'' i.e District Doda, the people of J&K in general, of Jammu province in particular and of Kishtwar in more particular have got a new ray of hope. People of Kishtwar have full confidence that the best healing touch of the Chief Minister shall definitely reach them in the form of District status for Kishtwar as a new year gift of the year 2006 of this millennium, as to be the part of the Ist Phase in implementation of Wazir Commission recommendation.

Cultivate patient friendly culture

By Dr Arun Sharma

If we try and find out the patient satisfaction quotient in any public hospital, the critical factor is the attitude and behavior of the staff. A patient-friendly culture is the key driver of the success.

Unified thoughts translated into synchronized action are possible only when the employees are moulded in the culture of the hospital. Hospital culture should have a unique set of attitude, belief, value system and behavior. The onus of defining and engineering the culture lies with the top management or the administration of the hospital. Engineering a unified people centric culture is not easy and needs support from all levels of the hierarchy. Strategic goals and the objectives of any hospital cannot be achieved, if people focus is not of primary concern. Employee satisfaction is directly related to the satisfaction of the patient which in turn translates into increased throughout through the system.

Set a mission statement: Hospital's mission statement inculcates a very broad spectrum of the patient care deliverables, setting the performance benchmark, using feasible resources and people potential. A mission statement has to be carefully worded and written because all short term and long-term objectives of hospital operations shall be drawn out on the basis of it. Mission statement remains the same whereas the market strategy can change with the micro economic and micro economic market turbulence. None of the public hospitals has a mission statement at present anywhere in India. It needs only a concentrated effort from Hospital Administrators to device a mission.

The best way to develop mission statement of any hospital is to take a multi-team approach & a special effort by the Hospital Administrators of concerned public hospital. Let different stakeholders give input as per their understanding of existence of the hospital. We can make say e.g. four teams each of doctors, nurses, support staff and management and ask each of these teams to brainstorm and write a statement defining the mission.

The mission statement finally should be tested as it should be inspirational, providing decision-making criteria for the public employees in the tough situation. Ultimately, the public hospital's culture will be a reflection of the mission statement.

Define value system - Values define the core priorities in the hospital culture. Value is a standard that guides and determines actions, attitudes towards objects and situations, ideology, presentations of self to others, evaluations, judgements, justifications, comparisons of self with others and attempts to influence others.

If one of the values is to be "patient friendly", then the processes, employee behavior and service environment have to be aligned to the value system. It is very important that the value system is in accordance with the hospital's mission statement and does not conflict with each other. The value system should be such that it gives clarity to the employees and they deal confidently with the patients. Every public hospital should have five to six values and these values should address the concern of all the stakeholders.

Developing mission statement and values is not the end of creating high performance-focused culture. Right culture in the public hospital requires alignment of the inducted employee's personal value system with the hospital's mission and values. Hospital Administrators should try to see that at the time of an employee joining the hospital, they not only focus on the core skill set qualification & experience of the employee but also analyze his personal value system.

Once an employee joins the Hospital, then the induction should be exhaustive and the employee should be given a guided tour of the public hospital, explained in detail about the history, mission, values, job responsibility, authorities accountabilities and reward-recognition system of that particular hospital.After induction, the onus lies on the employee also to align his personal values to values of the hospital and contribute towards compliance with the overall mission of the hospital.

People need to be constantly nurtured in the hospital as they tend to be complacent and feel that they are contributing to the best of their ability. Constant coaching and monitoring is required. Head of the departments should lead from the front and demonstrate exemplary commitment in maintaining the culture.

Public employees should be given opportunities to improve upon their skill set through constant training. Training and development activities should not be only focused on cultural issue and skill enhancement workshops can also be organized. Committed employees are high performing employees.

Develop people forum - Openness and transparency are the keys to sustaining a culture. The growth of any public hospital depends upon the input from all level of hierarchy and patients. If the employees don't get space to vent out their feelings, they will end up being frustrated, be-motivated team members. Public Hospitals should develop employee forum and patient forums to address this.

In the employee forum, the hospital administration or the departmental head should give an overview of the strategic goals and explain its expectation from the employees. Employees should be encouraged to give their input and also their grievances should be addressed. It is practically impossible to resolve all the grievances, but many a times the best ideas come from somebody who is not the Head/administrator. This is the magic of an employee-centric culture, driving the hospital to success.

A culture which warrants excellence in all areas of operations cannot be achieved if the most important stake holder i.e. patients are not given an opportunity to express their expectations from the public hospital. Patient satisfaction survey is a statistical tool which gives data-based standard analytical parameters, but what actually matters is the real interaction with the patient. Government Hospitals & particularly the administrators should try to organize one-to-one meetings with the patients and take their personal feedback.

Develop performance assessment - What motivates an employee to contribute his optimum? It is the environment which is conducive to his growth and progression. Employee turnover due to absence of performance - based progression is the biggest setback to creating a culturally-oriented high-performing workforce. Though we have the service book of an employee and annual performance reports filled in Government sector in Jammu & Kashmir, but it has to be strengthened and realistic. The performance management system should focus on compliance with the value system of the respective hospital. The objectives of performance appraisal should be

* To monitor and evaluate performance vis-a-vis objectives.

* Take decisions on performance - based remuneration.

* To recognize the achievements.

* To identify the potential and understand the strengths and weakness.

* To identifying training and development needs.

* Facilitate inventory for skills and expertise available.

Hospital's should focus on engineering a culture which motivates, values and recognizes employees to give optimum output in delivery service.

Hydrogen engergy

By Pallab Bhattacharya

The Road Map envisaging an investment of Rs 25,000 crore for research, development and creation of infrastructure for hydrogen production for power generation and fuelling future transport could not have at a more opportune time-just a week before representatives of more than 180 countries met in Montreal to discuss how to tackle increasing global warming arising out of rising green house gas emissions and consequent climate change.

Since hydrogen energy, viewed the world over as a clean, reliable and sustainable energy alternative to fossil fuels, the Road Map prepared by the Steering Group on Hydrogen Energy headed by Tata, assumed significance for India's energy-hungry economy and to help ensure steady supply of energy sources for the country.

India's efforts to develop hydrogen energy began more than two decades ago but it is only in recent years that the importance of hydrogen energy has been felt more than ever before. It was in October 2003 the Non Conventional Energy Ministry had set up the National Hydrogen Energy Board to give a push to development and commercial use of hydrogen energy. But it took a year to hold the Board's meeting where the decision was taken to set up the Steering Group which also included noted industrialist Anand Mahindra as its Co-Chairman, scientists K Kasturirangan and Anil Kakodkar and heads of Indian Oil Corporation and Bharat Heavy Electrical Limited.

There is now a recognition across the world about the imperative of hydrogen energy. Countries like the United States, Germany, Britain, Canada and European Union have already begun efforts towards hydrogen energy economy with separate road maps.

Along with China and Brazil, India is one of the three developing countries which have founded the International Partnership of Hydrogen Economy set up by 16 countries in November 2003 for coordinated global efforts for transition to hydrogen energy economy, Muttemwar pointed out while receiving the report from Tata. He said India, with a strong science and technology base, is well positioned to be in the vanguard of hydrogen energy technologies.

The Road Map stresses on development of total hydrogen energy system which includes production, storage, transport, delivery and application of hydrogen energy, hydrogen safety, codes and standards and capacity-building.

It has suggested that production of hydrogen from nuclear energy, coal gasification, biomass, biological and renewable energy methods need to be developed urgently in addition to hydrogen production based on steam methane reformation. To meet immediate requirement of hydrogen, the Road Map has proposed that byproduct of hydrogen available from chloralkali industry, fertilizer plants and refineries be tapped.

The Road Map has selected two key areas for application of hydrogen energy: (1) transport and power generation. Called the Green Initiative for Power Generation (GIP), it provides for development of hydrogen powered internal combustion engines/turbines and fuel cell based decentralized power generating systems ranging from a few kilowatt to megawatt size to supply clean energy to rural and remote areas beside catering to urban centres. It estimates about 1,000 MW of power from hydrogen in the country by the year 2020.

A bio-reactor to generate nearly one kg/hour of hydrogen using distillery waste has been set up at Nellikuppam inTamil Nadu as part of Ministry of Non Conventional Energy-supported projected and is now at the demonstration state.

SPIC Science Foundation, Tuticorin, has developed a three KW capacity Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) system based on polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells under a project sponsored by the Ministry of Non Conventional Energy Sources, Five such units have been manufactured and will undergo field trials, according to the Ministry. Interestingly, the Road Map has strongly recommended a public-private partnership in the move towards hydrogen energy economy.

With regard to hydrogen energy for transportation, the Road Map suggests the Green Initiative for Future Transport(GIFT) aimed at developing hydrogen powered internal combustion engine and fuel cell based vehicles including two and three wheelers, cars, buses and other heavy vehicles through a phased programme. It envisions that one million hydrogen powered vehicles on Indian roads by the next 15 years with the focus on two and three wheelers which consist of the major chunk of automobiles in India.

In the area of storage of Hydrogen energy, the Road Map talks of storing in gaseous, liquid and solid-state form.

With India and other countries faced with fast depleting sources of fossil fuels, the need for looking at alternative sources of energy is acutely felt as never before and the Road Map reflects that, Ratan Tata said.

The Road Map, he pointed out, recommends widespread demonstration of hydrogen technologies for its use in power generation and automobile sectors.

Tata however acknowledges the complexities in implementing the Road Map, particularly the huge investments required to translate into reality. But as Muttemwar asserted, the Government was committed to translate the vision outlined in the Road Map into action. One hopes his words do not turn out to be innumerable Government promises made but remaining unfulfilled.

India's search for hydrogen energy and indeed any alternative energy source acquires new urgency at a time when there are uncertainities whether countries would be able to forge a consensus on even meeting legally-binding targets of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2012 under the Kytoto Protocol, especially after British Prime Minister Tony Blair, in a perceived shift to stand, had said that he did not think people are going at least in the short term to start negotiating another major treaty like Kyoto whose first phase runs out in the year 2012.

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