Bhubaneswar: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has directed the Chief Secretary of Odisha to pay Rs 3 lakh compensation to the relatives of a deceased pregnant woman who succumbed due to grave medical negligence at Jaleswar Community Health Centre (CHC) of Balasore district in 2015.
The commission had earlier asked the chief secretary to compensate the next of kin of the deceased in February 2020, but to no avail.
The rights panel had again directed the state government to pay the amount and submit the compliance report within four weeks else, it said, coercive action will be taken against authorities as per section 13 of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993.
Notably, the victim, Jharana Dalai, was referred to district headquarters hospital of Balasore by the doctors at CHC Jaleswar November 11, 2015 as her condition deteriorated due to several complications.
However, the family failed to get any ambulance service despite repeated calls on the emergency services number 102 and 108.
The enquiry report of the additional director (MH) of state Directorate of Family Welfare submitted before the NHRC also confirmed the allegations of gross negligence of the medical staff at the CHC resulting in the death of the pregnant lady.
The commission also asked the chief secretary to submit a detailed report regarding the punitive actions taken against the persons responsible for negligence.
