For Karimul Hak, from Jalpaiguri in West Bengal, this year’s “At Home” reception at Rashtrapati Bhawan turned out to be more of a special occasion than he anticipated. Awarded the Padma Shree in 2017 for running his free ambulance service on his two wheeler in rural West Bengal, he got invaluable face time with Prime Minister Modi in the otherwise protocol-driven event.
As Prime Minister Modi made his way down the barricaded receiving line, he spotted Mr. Hak and stopped by to chat. On being asked for a “selfie” with the Prime Minister, Mr. Hak appeared to fumble with his phone, at which Prime Minister Modi intervened and asked to do the honours himself. “I wanted a picture with the Prime Minister, but I’m not very handy with the phone. Prime Minister Modi then took the picture from my phone. After that, without any prompting, he enquired about my ambulance service. He then asked me whether the bridge that I had wanted to be built - to cross from our village to several other interior areas - had been constructed. I had told him last year that the bridge would ease our commute. I told him that we were still waiting for it and he promised that it would be done soon,” said Mr Hak.
Mr Hak runs a unique two wheeler ambulance service that ferries patients from rural areas to the nearest health facilities for free. “I am happy that he remembered and I feel that we will get our bridge soon,” he added, speaking to The Hindu .
Several former Padma Sree awardees, especially unsung heroes were part of Friday’s “At Home” at Rashtrapati Bhawan, along with the 10 chief guests, heads of governments of the 10 ASEAN countries, and Union Ministers of India, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, former Vice President Hamid Ansari and Congress president Rahul Gandhi.
