‘No money for ambulance’: Bengal man travels by bus with son’s body in bag | Kolkata - Hindustan Times
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‘No money for ambulance’: Bengal man travels by bus with son’s body in bag

May 15, 2023 12:53 PM IST

The incident has triggered a political row between West Bengal’s ruling TMC and the opposition BJP over the health infrastructure in the state

Unable to pay the ambulance charges, a migrant labourer in West Bengal’s North Dinajpur district had to allegedly travel 200 km by bus carrying the body of his six-month-old child in a bag on Sunday, triggering a political row between the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the health infrastructure in the state.

The man said he couldn’t find a hearse-van and the private ambulance operators demanded <span class='webrupee'>₹</span>8,000. (Twitter/Dr Sukanta Majumdar)
The man said he couldn’t find a hearse-van and the private ambulance operators demanded 8,000. (Twitter/Dr Sukanta Majumdar)

“I couldn’t find a hearse-van and the private ambulance operators demanded 8,000. I am a poor migrant worker, and I was not able to pay the amount. I then put my son’s body in my bag and travelled by bus from Siliguri to Raiganj and then to Kaliaganj,” said Ashim Deb Sharma, a resident of Dangapatra village of Kaliaganj.

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Sharma had admitted his twin sons at the Kaliaganj state general hospital a few days ago. The hospital referred them to the Raiganj Medical College and Hospital from where they were again referred to the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital (NBMCH) in Siliguri in Darjeeling district – the largest hospital in north Bengal - after their health deteriorated.

On Thursday, Sharma’s wife returned home with one of the kids after he was released from the hospital. Sharma, however, had to stay back as the other child was still admitted. The child died on Saturday evening.

“I had already spent 16,000 for the treatment of the children, and I have little money left. From Kaliaganj, a local BJP leader hired an ambulance for me to take the body to my village,” Sharma told media persons on Sunday.

He claimed he had requested the nursing staff of the paediatric ward of NBMCH to keep the body for one night so that he may return home the next morning.

The hospital authorities, however, said that Sharma didn’t approach them for an ambulance.

NBMCH superintendent Dr Sanjay Mallik said: “The NBMCH does not have its own hearse, but if economically weaker families request us, we make arrangement for it through the patient welfare committee. In this case, however, the family members did not contact us.”

“Had he approached us, efforts would have been made to arrange for a hearse,” said Dr Sanjay Mallik.

BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar, in a tweet on Sunday, said, “This poor person has to carry the dead body of his child in the bag. He didn’t find any Ambulance. This is the condition of the health facility in West Bengal. This case is from Uttar Dinajpur district. Sad, but this is the reality across all districts in West Bengal.”

Leader of the opposition (LoP), Suvendu Adhikari also targeted the state government. “Let’s not get into technicalities, but is this what “Swasthya Sathi” has achieved? This is unfortunately the true portrayal of the “Egiye Bangla” model,” he said in a tweet.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee doubles up as the state’s health minister.

Speaking to media, TMC member of Parliament (MP) Santanu Sen said, “The incident is really unfortunate. The administration will definitely look into it as why and how it happened.”

Hitting back at the BJP, he said, “The LoP is not being able to come out of his habit of doing vulture-politics over dead bodies. He might have forgotten that just a few days back, a man was killed after being hit by his convoy. He didn’t even stop the convoy. A few months ago, three persons were killed in a stampede, when he went to distribute blankets at a programme that was organised without police permission. So, such statements don’t suit him. They (BJP) are just doing politics over the dead.”

Earlier in January, a man, along with his son, was purportedly seen in a video, which went viral, carrying the body of his 72-year-old wife who died in the Jalpaiguri Medical College and Hospital, on their shoulder, as they were unable to pay the fare demanded by ambulance operators.

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    I am working with Hindustan Times since 2001 and am posted in Siliguri, West Bengal, as Principal Correspondent. I have been regularly covering vast area of northern parts of West Bengal, Sikkim and parts of Nepal and Bhutan.

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