Bhubaneswar: The state government Friday rejected the allegation that Dana Majhi was denied a hearse by the authorities forcing him to carry his wife’s body.
Majhi had not sought any help before leaving the hospital in Bhawanipatna, health and family welfare minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak informed the Assembly in a reply to a question of Congress MLA Prafulla Majhi.
“Majhi had not sought any help or assistance like dead body carrier from any of the hospital staff on the night of August 23,” said the report of the Kalahandi chief district medical officer (CDMO) that the health minister presented in the Assembly.
The Dana Majhi episode hogged international headlines inviting severe criticism for the state government when news spread that the man from Melghar village, located 60 km from the Kalahandi district headquarters town of Bhawanipatna, was denied a hearse or ambulance by hospital authorities forcing him to carry his wife’s body on his shoulder for 10 km.
Majhi had alleged August 24 that the hospital authorities refused to provide any assistance to transport the body.
The CDMO’s report presented by the minister before the House said the hospital authorities learnt of the incident August 24. The report said that when the doctor visited the ward that morning, he found the patient missing. He then wrote in the head ticket that the patient had left against medical advice. The CDMO’s report also said that the doctor had informed the ADMO (medical) Kalahandi about this at 9 am August 24.
“The patient was not declared dead. The patient was given adequate medical treatment and there was no negligence in treatment,” the report said.
On a question about what action the state government has taken against persons responsible for the incident, the minister said that the government has held “a contractual staff nurse Rajendra Rana responsible for the incident” and dismissed him from the service. “Likewise, the security agency guarding the hospital at Bhawanipatna has also been disengaged,” he said.
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