The Karnataka government has stepped in to foot the medical expenses of legendary singer Manna Dey, who died on October 24 here.
The government’s offer is timely, as the singer’s family was planning to apply for a bank loan to clear the bill.
Sources close to the singer’s family said his daughter Shumita Deb and son-in-law Jnan Ranjan Deb were planning to raise a personal loan to clear the hospital dues. The total cost of hospitalisation is around Rs. 42 lakh of which the family has paid Rs. 14 lakh.
“The family is also trying to get Rs. 30 lakh from a relative who allegedly siphoned off Dey’s money,” the sources said.
Reacting to the government’s offer, Mr. Jnan Ranjan Deb said the family was grateful. Adding that though several people within the country and abroad had offered help, the family refused to accept it, he said: “My father-in-law was a disciplined person who refused to take money from anyone, including me. Such being the case, we did not want to accept money from his fans. We have been appealing to the West Bengal government to ensure that our relative returns that Rs. 30 lakh. We can pay the bill with that amount but there is no response from the government.”
When Chief Minister Siddaramaiah visited the family on October 25 to express condolences, they had appealed to him to help them repay the bill.
Meanwhile, learning about the family’s predicament, Gurudas Dasgupta, Communist Party of India MP, has written to the Prime Minister requesting him to bail out the family. He also offered to pay the bill through his MP Local Area Development Fund if the norms were relaxed.
Dey was admitted to hospital after he developed severe urinary infection and acute neuro-respiratory problems. All through his hospital stay he was on ventilator and in the Medical Intensive Care Unit . He underwent dialysis thrice a week.
