Raj Kumar Rawat, who suffers from polio in one hand, was reportedly accompanied by his 15-year-old sister Manju. (Picture for representation purpose)
A 26-YEAR-OLD physically-challenged man allegedly carried his sick father on a handcart to the Trivediganj community health centre (CHC) in Barabanki district after the state-run ‘108’ ambulance did not reach on time. While the father died on way to the CHC, located at a distance of 6 km from their house at Majre Aldadpur village in Loni Katra, the man also brought him home on the handcart, as he was refused a hearse.
Raj Kumar Rawat, who suffers from polio in one hand, was reportedly accompanied by his 15-year-old sister Manju.
The emergency management executive of private company GVK-EMRI, which has the contract to provide 108 ambulance service in the area, has been booked under Section 304 A (causing death by negligence) of the IPC.
The case was registered on a complaint filed by CHC superintendent Mukund Patel after two probes — one conducted by a tehsildar and the other by the chief medical officer (CMO) — found that Rawat’s neighbour had called the 108 service, but the ambulance arrived only after he had reached the CHC with his father.
“After the condition of his father deteriorated, Raj Kumar Rawat asked one of his neighbours to call the 108 ambulance service. When the ambulance did not arrive even after a long time, he brought his father to the CHC on a handcart,” Sub-Divisional Magistrate of Haidergarh, Santosh Kumar, said.
Barabanki CMO Dr Ramesh Chandra said Mansharam (42) was unwell for the past six months and his kidneys were not functioning properly.
On Rawat not being given a hearse van at the CHC, Chandra said: “We are helpless… we do not have a system to provide hearse vans to ferry bodies from CHCs… While there are 56 primary health centres and 17 CHCs in the district, there are only two hearse vans… stationed at the district hospital.”
Loni Katra police SHO Bhagwati Prasad Yadav said that Rawat’s neighbour allegedly called for an ambulance at 1.22 pm on Monday. “One attendant kept the call on hold for four minutes, and later, did not send the ambulance on time,” he added.