No hearse in govt hospital of Madhya Pradesh's Chhatarpur; body sent on a private ambulance

The government hospital in Madhya Pradesh's Chhatarpur did not have ambulances or mortuary vans to ferry patients or the deceased. The hospital authorities requisitioned a private hearse from an NGO Samarpan for carrying the body of a child home.

Chhatarpur (Madhya Pradesh): Revealing the grim scenario of health infrastructure in government hospitals in Madhya Pradesh's Chhatarpur district, a man belonging to a tribal community had to wait for a mortuary van for half an hour to carry his four-year-old son's body. The hospital authorities requisitioned a private hearse from an NGO Samarpan for carrying the body of the deceased child home.

Pappu Adivasi's four-year-old son died in the hospital while undergoing treatment. The child was admitted to the government hospital after he complained of stomach ache, vomiting and diarrhoea. After undergoing treatment for a day, the child died on Thursday morning.

The relatives of the deceased were looking for an ambulance or mortuary van to take home the body. A relative of the deceased, who was carrying the child's body in his lap and sitting on the hospital campus said, "The deceased is my brother-in-law's son. The child was admitted to the hospital when he complained of stomach ache, vomiting and diarrhoea. We are waiting for an ambulance to carry the body. The hospital authorities were saying that the ambulance will be arranged as soon as possible. But, it has not come."

Civil surgeon of the district hospital Dr GL Ahirwar said, "We learnt about the incident from media persons. It was very unfortunate. We asked for a municipal mortuary van for carrying the body. But in this case, the deceased home was situated far away from the municipal limits. So, they were not agreeing to ferry the body. The ambulance service run by an NGO called Samparan was asked to carry the body. The body of the deceased was sent home."