Man carries his baby's body in bag, takes a bus home from hospital

Kaliaganj's Ashim Deb Sharnna says he failed to pay fare asked by ambulance at NBMCH in Siliguri 

SNS, 14 May 2023, Siliguri : A man from Dangapara in Kaliaganj in North Dinajpur district is

learnt to have carried home the body of his child from the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital (NBMCH) in Siliguri in his personal bag and in a passenger bus after he failed to pay for the ambulance/hearse fare.

It is learnt that Ashim Deb Sharma's wife had delivered twin babies six months ago and that the boys had been admitted in the Kaliaganj State General  Hospital for treatment recently, front where they were referred to the Raiganj Medical College and  Hospital (RMCH). The RMCH too referred them to the NBMCH in Siliguri after their health deteriorated, it is learnt. Last Thursday, the babies' mother went home from the NBMCH with one of the boys who had recuperated. However, Mr Deb Sharma had to stay back in the NBMCH with the other boy, who died there last night.

"I could not find a hearse, while the private ambulance operators demanded Rs 8000. I am a poor migrant worker and I was not able to pay the amount. I then put the boy's body in my bag and travelled by bus from Siliguri to Raiganj first, and then to Kaliaganj. From Kaliaganj, a BJP leader hired an ambulance for me to take the body to my hometown of Dangapara," Mr Deb Sharma said.

According to Mr Deb Sharma, he had already spent Rs 16000 in the treatment of the children.

Gaurango Das, a BJPleader of Kaliyaganj, said, "When I heard that he had reached Kaliyaganj with the dead body in his bag, I felt ashamed of the deplorable condition of the health sector in the state. I then arranged for an ambulance for him."

The President of the Kaliyaganj BlockTrinamool Congress committee Nita' Biswas said that he was "extremely upset" at the "in human incident."

'The state government has been providing so many facilities to the poor, yet this family was not able to get them. The family would not have suffered had anybody informed us of the matter," Mr Biswa said.

At the NBMCH, doctors said that the child died due to septicemia.

"The NBMCH does not have its own hearse, but if economically weaker families request us, we will arrange for it through the patient welfare committee. In this case, however, the family members did not contact us. The man had requested the nursing staff of the paediatric ward to keep the body following the death of the baby last night. Had he approached us, efforts would have been made to arrange for a hearse," said NBMCH superintendent Dr Sanjay Mallick.

Mr Deb Sharma travelled with the body for around 200 km in the bus.

"He left for Raiganj in a bus front Siliguri last night and he boarded another bus from Raiganj for Kaliaganj today," a source said. Around 10 deaths occur at the NBMCH every day, sources said.

Amid the situation, there are allegations that private ambulance operators camped at government hospitals charge exorbitant fares and that there is no monitoring on the fee slab.

Sources said 132 ambulances had been operating from the NBMCH presently.

The incident has once again brought to the fore the fact that the NBMCH does not have any hearse that could be used to ferry bodies from the hospital to patients' destinations.

Earlier in January, a man, along with his son, was found 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.