Sheila Dikshit inaugurates Al Shifa Hospital

Alshifa Multi Speciality Hospital has been inaugurated by Delhi Cheif Minister Sheila Dikshit today at Jamia Nagar, Okhla, New Delhi.

In her inaugural speech, she appreciated the efforts of Human Welfare Foundation, the umbrella body of Vision 2016 program in general and the hospital project in specific which puts forward the concept of quality and affordable health care for all.

She said the project is a land mark initiative fort the people of Okhla. She expressed her long desire for establishing a maternity hospital in Jamia Nagar which was not executed due to non availability of land but will establish once land is availed or will support Human Welfare Foundation to start one. She also said that the government can join hands with HWF for efforts in capacity building and human resource development. 

Moulana Syed Jalaluddin Umri delivering the presidential address

The inaugural function was presided by Syed Jalaluddin Umri, President of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) and Chairman of Human Welfare Trust. He said “Providing service for the helpless and needy people is part of Ibadah (worship) in Islam,”. Making his point home, the JIH Ameer, who is also the Chairman of Human Welfare Trust, said, “Serving the society is as much important as saying one’s own prayers; that’s why the Qur’ān has mentioned Zakat repeatedly only after Salat (Namaaz).”

Prof. K. A. Siddique Hassan, Secretary General of Human Welfare Foundation said that the hospital will be a helping hand for the needy. It will solve the problem of non-availability of quality and affordable health care in the area. The hospital will be an ideal model of health care, in a place where health care is a means of exploitation and an opportunity for huge profits. He explained the activities of vision 2016 program.

Sandeep Dikshit (Member of Parliament) Safdar H. Khan (Chairman, Delhi Minority Commission), Kiran Walia (Minister of Social Welfare, Delhi), Dr. Azad Moopan, (Chairman, DM Healthcare) Mr. Sandeep Dikshit (Member of Parliament) Dr. Hussain (Chairman, Fathima Healthcare Services) and Syed Hamid Hussain (Chairman, Human Welfare Foundation and Chancellor, Jamia Hamdard Univesity) spoke in the function. Engineer Saleem (Secretary, Human Welfare trust) convened the program and Brigadior Zafar Ali (Operations director, Al Shifa Hospital) delivered the vote of thanks.

Al Shifa hospital has specialised departments for General medicine, general surgery, orthopaedics, gynaecology, paediatrics and physiotherapy. It has a bed capacity of 36 and will be upgraded to 150 shortly. The hospital will soon have two more specialised departments – eye and dental. Medical laboratory, radiology, ultra sound scanning, spirometry and ECG are available in the hospital.

A report in JIH website. Here

State of the sisterhood

The headlines are euphoric. Mamata Banerjee, J Jayalalithaa, Mayawati and Sheila Dikshit, just four women now rule over 400 million Indians. Three cheers for gender justice. Yet, there is no skirting the big question: are they about to swing a new deal for India's women? Some would argue, don't hold your breath. 

"They might not be game changers for other women," says Akhila Sivadas,  executive director, Centre for Advocacy and Research. "But at least they have been able to come up in a highly competitive environment that is often hostile to women."

The four women chief ministers are pictures in contrast. In her elegant saris, Sheila Dikshit is the silver-haired patrician who calls journalists beta, especially when they are asking tough questions. The unyielding Mayawati rules Uttar Pradesh by diktat, transferring officials who displease her faster than you can say ‘statue'. Jayalalithaa encourages full ashtang namaskars by genuflecting party members. Only Mamata is the untried, untested chief minister who comes to power with zero ostentation and enormous expectation for single-handedly demolishing 34 years of unbroken Communist rule.

It's early days yet to judge the third coming of Jayalalithaa or the first of Mamata in terms of what this means to the women of their states. But the rise to power of this sisterhood, says Guha, "has to be set off against the continuing discrimination against women in society". Adds social activist Biraj Patnaik: "There is great symbolic value in having these women in power." Significantly, despite their ideological differences, this sorority remains united on one issue: the Women's Reservation Bill, passed in the Rajya Sabha but now stuck in the lower house.

It's tempting to see the rise of so many women at one point in time as a great victory for women everywhere. But women have a long way to go and many hurdles — female foeticide, dowry, malnutrition — to overcome. 

Women in positions of power at the national and state level might not immediately usher in a new deal for other women. Their achievements (and scandals) are perhaps benchmarked against their male competitors. But their presence could  mean a good, hard knock at yet another glass ceiling.

Namita Bhandare in Hindustan Times. More Here