Alleged irregularities in the operation of free mortuary van service at Government Rajaji Hospital here, which is intended to benefit the poor in transporting bodies of their beloved after post mortem, have rendered it inaccessible to many.
While families of the deceased, particularly those coming from far away places, allege that they are asked to pay exorbitant money to transfer the bodies, the drivers operating the vehicles claim that they have difficulties even in filling fuel.
I. Asirvatham, State coordinator of human rights organisation People’s Watch, who recently faced trouble in transporting the body of S. Karuppasamy, who died in police custody, to his native place near Andipatti in Theni district, said that the van drivers demanded ₹3,000 from the family for transporting the body.
“Though they claimed they wanted the money to fill fuel for the vehicle, a poor family cannot be made to bear the brunt for inefficiencies in the system,” he said. Though the police are responsible for booking the mortuary van for transporting bodies involved in medico-legal cases, he said that the family did not receive much assistance from the police in arranging the vehicle.
Stating that Karuppasamy’s widow was even willing to sell her golden earrings to pay the drivers, Mr. Asirvatham said that he finally took the issue to the notice of Collector K. Veera Raghava Rao, following which the driver agreed to transport the body free of cost.
Pointing out that the GRH mortuary handled around 10 post mortems daily and there were almost an equal number of vans under the free service, A. Harikrishnan of Nethaji Medical Trust, who helps in the cremation of unidentified bodies, said, “Families of the deceased are supposed to book the free service through the ‘15577’ helpline. However, after booking the vehicle, when the families approach the drivers here, they demand anywhere between ₹ 2,000 to ₹ 4,000 for neighbouring districts.”
“The families willing to pay the money get the vehicles. For others, the drivers either say that the vehicle is not available at that moment or it is not in proper condition,” he added. “Most families pay a few hundred rupees to the drivers even without demanding. The problem begins when the drivers demand money that is not in the affordable range of families,” he said.
When contacted, a driver blamed it on the bureaucratic delays with the Indian Red Cross Society office in Chennai that manages the service across Tamil Nadu. “Owing to a case in court, posts of senior office-bearers are lying vacant, because of which there is inordinate delay in getting our paltry salary of ₹ 8,000 to ₹ 10,000,” he said.
“Earlier, we were given pre-paid cards to fill fuel. That has been stopped now. Two vehicles in Madurai are in the workshop for long since the workshop owner has not been paid money for repair work,” he asked.
A senior official from GRH said that he had not no control over the service since it was coordinated by the office of Indian Red Cross Society in Chennai.
