Covid patients hit road over bad food in Raiganj - Protesters retreat only after North Dinajpur district officials assures them of remedial action

Covid patients protest near their safe home in Karnajora on Raiganj outskirts on Monday. Kousik Sen

Kousik Sen   |   TT  |   Raiganj   |  28.07.20  :  Around 50 Covid-19 patients walked up to a street in Karnajora on the outskirts of Raiganj town on Monday afternoon to protest lack of basics such as proper food and enough water at their government-run safe home.

The protests, which started around 3.30pm, continued for almost three hours, with patients with no or mild symptoms going back to the safe home only after North Dinajpur district officials assured them of remedial action.

As of now, 60-odd patients are staying at the safe home that has been opened at a building of the state consumer affairs department.

This is the second time that Covid patients protested the quality of food and services at a state-run facility in north Bengal. Last week, patients at a Covid hospital in Jalpaiguri made similar allegations. 

A safe home resident said they mostly got “dry rotis or parathas” in the morning. “Lunch is seldom served before 3.30pm and dinner comes around 11.30pm. The quality of food is very poor and a resident of the safe home is bound to become weak,” he said.

Another patient who joined the protest said that a resident got only two water pouches of 200ml each every day. 

Demonstrators pointed out that such hardships forced a Covid patient to flee from the safe home to reach home recently, but he was picked up by the police and sent off to another safe home in Hemtabad block of the same district.

Raiganj block BDO Raju Lama reached the spot with drinking water for the patients and assured them that from Tuesday they would not have to face any inconvenience.

The protest evoked mixed reactions among health officials. R.N. Pradhan, the chief medical officer of health of North Dinajpur, briefly said it was not their responsibility.

Sushanta Roy, the officer on special duty on Covid in north Bengal, admitted to delay in serving lunch among patients on Monday. “The vehicle with food had developed a technical snag. The BDO and the SDO have been asked to look into it. I will also visit the safe home to see if patients are getting proper food and care.”

In north Bengal, 312 new cases and four deaths were reported in 24 hours, said the state bulletin on Monday, and 235 patients discharged. There are 2,173 active cases.