The American Baazar :
A tribal man in Odisha’s Kalahandi walked 10 km with his wife’s body on shoulder as he had no money for a hearse van and the district hospital authorities allegedly refused to arrange one.
His 12-year daughter weeping by his side, Dana Majhi wrapped his wife Amang Dei’s body in old sheets from the bed at the hospital in Bhawanipatna town on Wednesday morning, adjusted her on his shoulders and started walking to his home in Melghar village in Kalahandi’s Thuanul Rampur block, about 60 km away.
42-year-old Amang Dei died of tuberculosis at the hospital on Tuesday night.
“I told the hospital authorities that I am a poor man and cannot afford a vehicle. I kept requesting them but they said they could not help,” Mr Majhi said to a television crew that found him.
The TV crew reportedly called up a senior officer and arranged an ambulance for the remaining journey to Majhi’s village.
In Odisha, the government had launched the ‘Mahaparayana’ scheme in February, offering to transport boides from government hospitals free of charge. Under the scheme 37 government hospitals were given vehicles to carry the dead but none of those were available when Majhi desperately needed the service.
“As we got to know of the incident, we arranged for an ambulance,” Kalahandi District collector Brunda D told NDTV. She also added that she had sanctioned Rs 2000 from the state government’s funeral assistance scheme and another Rs 10,000 from the District Red Cross Fund.
Kalikesh Singh Deo, a Member of Parliament of the state’s ruling Biju Janata Dal, tweeted, “I have already asked the local minister to verify this and take appropriate action.”
A tribal man in Odisha’s Kalahandi walked 10 km with his wife’s body on shoulder as he had no money for a hearse van and the district hospital authorities allegedly refused to arrange one.
His 12-year daughter weeping by his side, Dana Majhi wrapped his wife Amang Dei’s body in old sheets from the bed at the hospital in Bhawanipatna town on Wednesday morning, adjusted her on his shoulders and started walking to his home in Melghar village in Kalahandi’s Thuanul Rampur block, about 60 km away.
42-year-old Amang Dei died of tuberculosis at the hospital on Tuesday night.
“I told the hospital authorities that I am a poor man and cannot afford a vehicle. I kept requesting them but they said they could not help,” Mr Majhi said to a television crew that found him.
The TV crew reportedly called up a senior officer and arranged an ambulance for the remaining journey to Majhi’s village.
In Odisha, the government had launched the ‘Mahaparayana’ scheme in February, offering to transport boides from government hospitals free of charge. Under the scheme 37 government hospitals were given vehicles to carry the dead but none of those were available when Majhi desperately needed the service.
“As we got to know of the incident, we arranged for an ambulance,” Kalahandi District collector Brunda D told NDTV. She also added that she had sanctioned Rs 2000 from the state government’s funeral assistance scheme and another Rs 10,000 from the District Red Cross Fund.
Kalikesh Singh Deo, a Member of Parliament of the state’s ruling Biju Janata Dal, tweeted, “I have already asked the local minister to verify this and take appropriate action.”
