Old man takes sick wife to hospital on pushcart; no help from 108 helpline

As 108 ambulance allegedly failed to turn up, an elderly man, Ramlal Kol, took his ailing wife to the Community Health Centre on pushcart. The health centre is located nearly five kilometres away from his house at Hanumana in Rewa district.

Rewa (Madhya Pradesh):A video of an elderly person taking his wife on a pushcart to a health centre went viral amid strong reactions from the public against the alleged apathy of the authorities. The incident took place at Hanumana in Rewa district of Madhya Pradesh. As ambulance did not arrive despite several pleas, aggrieved Ramlal Kol was compelled to transport his sick wife on a pushcart to a hospital. His requisition for the ambulance fell on deaf ears.

Before resorting to pushcart, Kol dialled several times on the helpline number 108. But there was no response. Ramlal Kol took his ailing wife to a Community Health Centre, which was five kilometres away from his house. Moved by the pathetic scene, a passer-by video-recorded the incident and uploaded it on the social media.

Whereas, a doctor of the Community Health Centre (CHC) said the incident did not come to this notice. When ETV Bharat correspondent contacted Dr Nagendra Mishra over phone, he said, "I did not know about the incident."

Read:MP shocker: Man carries mother's body on bike for 80 km as ambulance cost Rs 5,000

People taking their sick kin on pushcart, motorcycle or other means of transportation has become commonplace nowadays.Non-availability and absence of ambulance services is causing severe hardship to the people.