Jharkhand shamed again, as father carries son’s dead body on his back

Ranchi: There is no pain bigger in the world than carrying the dead body of your child, they say. Thanks to the awry state of human health service in Jharkhand, a father from the mineral rich state have to undergo it on Saturday.

Suman Singh, an eight-year-old son of farmer Karan Singh was having very high temperature. Karan, a resident of Gumla’s Basia block, first took him to a hospital in Sisai village, unequipped with proper facility to handle to case, the doctor, asked Suman’s father to take him to the Sadar Hospital.

Suman, a student of standard one, on reaching the hospital was prescribed a few medicines. “The prescribed medicine was unavailable in the hospital. Karan didn’t have enough money to buy the medicines. As he was arranging for the money and buying it outside, Suman breathed his last,” said one of Karan’s relative.

The family’s woe didn’t just end there. The grieving father had to wrap his dead son’s body on a gamcha and tie it on to his back and walk all the way to his home, because the hospital also failed to provide him with an ambulance.

Significantly, Sadar Hospital, Gumla has got model hospital reward by the state government.

However, the civil surgeon JP Singh denied that medicine was not available at the hospital and claimed that Suman was brought dead. He also claimed that Karan Singh did not ask for ambulance and silently took away the body of his son.

Meanwhile, the Chief Minister of Jharkhand Raghubar Das has ordered inquiry into this incident.

However, the counter denial and a probe being initiated, is not being able to pacify the people of Jharkhand. They now want to know, why such incidents taking place in their sate and how many inquiries will the CM initiate? They want to know, when Das will take measures to better the health infrastructure in state.

Last month, a brother was denied ambulance at Chatra district by Sadar hospital authorities, when Rajendra Uraon had died from snake bite and his brother Laxman and wife had to carry Rajendra’s body.

“It is a known fact that the healthcare system is in shambles in Jharkhand and most cases get referred from one hospital to another or from one city to another. This requires ambulance service and Jharkhand is among the few states of India where there is no 108 ambulance service. Which means, private operators are ruling the roost, and poor often could not afford to pay them,” Krishan Murari Sharma, a social activist told eNewsroom.

“Non- availability of medicine is another common thing in state hospitals, and news reports of how government supplied medicines get sold out into market or are left to expire. But, when it happens in a model hospital, then it worries us more,” Sharma added.