State secretariat Nabanna sought a detailed report on the incident in connection with a dad carrying his five month-old baby’s body in a bag while travelling in a bus in Kaliaganj in North Dinajpur district from the district chief medical officer of health (CMOH) on Monday.
Worried about the apparently unheard-before shocking incident making headlines, Nabanna has asked the district health administration to submit the report as soon as possible.
A copy of the report should also be given to the health department, headed by the chief minister Miss Mamata Banerjee at swasthya Bhaban, Salt Lake, it is learnt. Sources at Swasthya Bhaban also said that they have already contacted the CMOH of North Dinajpur district and medical superintendentcum-vive principal (MSVP) of North Bengal Medical College and Hospital (NBMCH) seeking to know why didn’t the concerned authorities at the premier government teaching hospital arrange an ambulance to Asim Deb Sharma, father of the deceased newborn, to carry the body to his residence.
On the other hand, some senior administrative officers of the NBMCH, said that no one from the family of the deceased baby’s family contacted the hospital authorities seeking an ambulance to carry the body to their Dangapara village in Kaliaganj, which is more than 100 km away from Siliguri. Mr Deb Sharma carried the body of his baby in his bag from the NBMCH to his Dangapara village after he failed to pay an ambulance fare Rs 8,000. His wife had delivered twin babies six months ago and the newborns were admitted to Kaliaganj State General Hospital for treatment, recently.
But one of the twins was referred to NBMCH after his condition deteriorated and died there on Sunday. Mr Deb Sharma, carrying the body in the bag, reached his village by a bus because he could not pay the huge fare demanded by a private ambulance.