Mahaprayan fails: Woman carries son’s body on trolley

An instance of the failure of the Mahaprayan scheme of the State Government has drawn sharp criticism after a poor widow woman was forced to carry her son’s body on a trolley rickshaw from hospital for last rites in Sundargarh district.

The incidence had occurred on July 29, but it came to the fore on Sunday after a video clip of it went viral on social media.

The woman, identified as Mira Rohidas, had to carry her son Tikeswar Rohidas’ body on the trolley rickshaw in the wee hours on July 30 from the Sundergarh District Headquarters Hospital to her residence at Lohradhipa under the Sundargarh Municipality after she was denied ambulance service under the Mahaprayan scheme.

Source said that Tikeswar (25) had been admitted to the hospital on July 23 after he complained of illness. While undergoing treatment, he died on July 29 night. Mira requested the ambulance driver for help, but the latter demanded Rs 300 as user fee for transportation of the body in his vehicle.

Unable to pay the moey to the ambulance driver, Mira carried the body on the trolley rickshaw without complaining to the hospital authorities.

Notably, the Government has launched the Mahaprayan scheme after the incidence of Kalahandi district where Dana Majhi, a tribal, walked for 12 km carrying his wife’s body on his shoulders that hit headlines in national and international media in 2016.

The scheme facilitates transportation of bodies from hospitals to villages of the deceased by ambulances.