Mahaprayan fails again, family members carry woman's body on stretcher for 8km in Odisha

In another heart-wrenching incident, family members of a woman were forced to carry her body on a stretcher for 8 kms from the hospital to their village after they were allegedly deprived of a ‘Mahaprayan’ vehicle. 

The incident has been reported from Sinapali Community Health Centre (CHC) in Nuapada district. The incident has spread outrage in the area as locals slammed Odisha government’s tall claims of Mahaprayan services in every hospital in the state.

According to sources, Saraswati Sha of Garadamal under Sinapali block was rushed to the CHC after she fell unconscious due to high blood pressure. However, she was declared dead upon arrival at the CHC.

Later, family members were made to wait for hours for an ambulance or mortuary van. Despite waiting for hours, there was no sight of any ambulance from the hospital authorities. With no other option, the family members kept the body on a stretcher and dragged it for 8km on their way home, reports said.

Ghanshyam Sha, father-in-law of the deceased said, “She fell unconscious after his sugar went high. We immediately brought her to Sinapali Community Health Centre (CHC). However, they declared her brought dead. When we asked for an ambulance to take the body back to the village for final rites they made us wait for hours. Whenever we called them, they said that they will reach in 5 mins. But hours passed and we were only standing with the body.”

“With no other option left, we were forced to drag the body with the help of a stretcher because a family member had become critical in the village after knowing about the death,” he added.

On the other hand, the medical-in-charge, Mrunalini Priyadarshini said, “Mortuary vans are always available. But, I wasn’t aware of the situation. No one informed me about it.”