Nabarangpur/Sundargarh: Two instances of failure of the Odisha government’s Mahaprayan scheme have come to the fore in the last couple of days.
In Nabarangpur district, non-availability of the free hearse service forced parents of twin girls to hire an autorickshaw to carry the body of their child from the district headquarters hospital (DHH) to their village at Gadabaguda in Nandahandi block on Saturday.
Dhana Santa and his wife Dhanamati had admitted their three-month-old twin baby girls, who were suffering from pneumonia, to the DHH for treatment.
One of the twins died, following which, they called for Mahaprayan van. However, it was out of service due to lack of maintenance. They had to wait for five hours for the van and finally, hired an auto to go back home with the body.
According to the hospital sources, the vehicle has been lying defunct for the last 15 days. Since the launch of the scheme, no fund has been given for maintenance of the vehicle, the sources added.
In a similar incident, a poor widow had to carry his son’s body on a trolley rickshaw from hospital for the last rites in Sundargarh district on July 29.
The matter came to the light on Sunday, when a video clip of the same went viral.
According to reports, the woman, identified as Mira Rohidas, was denied ambulance service under Mahaprayan scheme, following which, she was forced to carry her son Tikeswar Rohidas’ body on a trolley rickshaw from the DHH to Lohradhipa under Sundergarh municipal area.
Tikeswar was admitted to the hospital on July 23 and died at around 2.00 am on July 29. Her mother requested the ambulance driver, who allegedly demanded Rs 300 as user fee for transporting the body in the vehicle.
Unable to pay the amount, she carried the body on a trolley rickshaw.
