cancer III

Years on, Shekhpura villagers continue to grapple with cancer
Rajay Deep
Tribune News Service

Shekhpura (Bathinda), Feb 2
This village in Bathinda district has witnessed dozens of its residents fall prey to different forms of cancer in the last decade.

While no one can come back from the dead, what is of greater concern is the helplessness of those who are battling this deadly disease for many years now. Most of them have given up hope and have started praying for the dusk to set in their lives.
The kin of such cancer patients, crippled by heavy debts, incurred for ensuring proper treatment of their loved ones, want an answer from the state health authorities and the politicians, who made several promises to rid the area of the scourge, but later forgot.
The village of Shekhpura is located on the Talwandi Sabo-Maur road in Bathinda district, nearly 42 kms from the district headquarters.
During a visit to the village today, it was observed that a large number of people in the village were suffering from this deadly disease. Most of the patients were suffering from cancer of the mouth and oesophagus (food pipe) while there were others who complained of cancer in liver, lungs and breast.
Shockingly, this reporter could hardly find a street in the village, where people could say that no house had a cancer patient.
Many people showed thick files containing documents (medical reports) stating that they had undergone treatment at the government-run specialized oncology hospital at Bikaner (Rajasthan) and the CMC at Ludhiana.
Some of them informed that in the absence of government attention and poor economic condition, many patients in the village had resorted to ‘black magic’ presuming that it was a cheaper alternative to the expensive medical treatment for the disease.
Lamenting their fate, villagers alleged that hardly any medical assistance/awareness campaign was launched for them in the village, barring a few occasions. They alleged that the cases recommended for medical aid remained a distant dream and many of the patients died waiting for government assistance.
One Karamjeet Singh, whose paternal uncle and cousin had died of cancer, said the family had come under huge debt. To meet the medical expenses, they had to mortgage their agricultural land.
“Just one year after marriage, my cousin died of liver cancer in February last. The family was yet to recover from the shock when her father too lost his life due to cancer of the food pipe,” he informed.
Narrating his plight, Gurmail Singh alias Mela, who was also suffering from cancer of the food pipe said, “The disease has ruined me. I have spent so much on medical expenses that I have nothing left to marry off my son. My magnanimous kin have taken up the responsibility of marrying him off.”
It was a touching moment when a cancer patient, Roop Singh, who was suffering from severe pain in his abdomen, said, “I wish this miserable life ends soon as it is beyond my capacity to get it treated.”
Meanwhile, the president of the Pendu Vikas Bhalai Club, Sukhwinder Singh said that during a recent visit to the village, Member of Parliament from Bathinda, Harisimrat Kaur Badal had assured of providing financial and medical assistance to the patients in the village affected by cancer.
“Moved by the sad plight of the villagers, she asked us to submit the documents related to the cancer patients after which she would take up the matter at the highest level to provide the help needed at the earliest possible. Accordingly, we are preparing a list by visiting door to door to collect information.”