Naidu launches free hearse service

Initially, it will be available in 11 teaching and two district hospitals

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu launched online “Mahaprasthanam,” a free hearse service for shifting the mortal remains of those who die in government hospitals to their houses, at the Secretariat here on Tuesday.

About 50 vehicles (hearses) will shift the bodies of those who die in 11 teaching hospitals and two district hospitals, one in each of the 13 districts as part of the service.

‘First-of-its-kind’

Addressing the media after the launch, Minister for Health Kamineni Srinivas said that the mortal remains of those who pass away in government hospitals would be shifted to their houses wherever they were in a dignified manner. The service is the first of its kind in the country.

The acting superintendent would garland the body before sending it to the home of the deceased, the Minister said.

The government would spend an estimated ₹8 crore per annum on this service which was the brainchild of the Chief Minister.

The Minister said several people lose their near and dear in government hospitals. Shifting the body was a formidable task for those were already bogged down by the death of a relative.

‘Pvt. operators

fleecing kin’

The owners of private vehicles were taking advantage of the situation and were charging between ₹10,000 and ₹15,000 for the task. It was the poor families that were worst affected by this, the Minister said.

Relatives being forced to carry the body of their relative on their shoulder came to light in the country recently.

The Chief Minister launched the service to ensure that such heart-wrenching events do not happen in the State, Dr. Srinivas said.

The Minister said that the service had been launched on an experimental basis with 50 vehicles, but the service would also be extended to other hospitals at the rate of “four or five” a day and every hospital in the State would have the service soon, the Minister said.