Daringbadi: The chief district medical officer (CDMO) of Kandhamal district Saturday suspended the ward attendant of Daringbadi community health centre (CHC) for dereliction of duty on his part after reports suggested that a family was forced to carry the body of their deceased relative on a cot for three kilometers.
Kiran Pradhan — a resident of Sraniketa area — had been admitted to the CHC and she breathed her last Friday while undergoing treatment. The family members had contacted the doctors and staff requesting for a hearse. That said, after waiting for hours in vain, they arranged a cot and carried the body all through the three-kilometer distance to their village in full public view.
People, after coming across the incident, reported it to CDMO Dr Samir Kumar Das who suspended ward attendant Nirakar Behera in turn. He has also slapped show-cause notice on CHC in-charge Dr Jaypal Senapati and two other doctors.
When contacted, Dr Senapati said that the patient’s village is three kilometers from the CHC. As Daringbadi CHC has no hearse under Mahaprayan yojana, attendant Nirakar had told the deceased’s father Jhankeswar Pradhan that the Mahaprayan van has been called from Baliguda.
But the family members pointed out that given the 50 kilometers distance between the hospital and Baliguda, it might take a long time and instead they decided to carry the body on their own.
“Before taking the body, they had even given me a written statement declaring that they are taking the body for it is getting late and without any intention to blame the hospital.
Notably, there used to be a Mahaprayan vehicle in Daringbadi, run by an NGO. The vehicle has been moved somewhere else since quite some time now. When the need arises, Mahaprayan vehicle is called from either Baliguda or from other places. The poor people, who most of the times cannot afford hiring a vehicle on their own, have no other way but to carry their near and dear ones either on cots, bicycles or even on shoulders.
PNN