NEW DELHI: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued notice to the Principal Secretary, Health Department, Govt. of Maharashtra, the District Magistrate, Gadhchiroli, and the District Magistrate, Amravati, on the issues of dead children being carried by their parents for fifteen kilometres due to lack of health care and basic amenities in the locality.
The NHRC passed the order recently after an acting petition was filed by advocate and noted human rights activist Radhakanta Tripathy in the Supreme Court.
On September 04, 2024, a couple was forced to carry the bodies of their two young children, aged six and three years for 15 kilometres on foot due to the absence of healthcare facilities and ambulance services in Gadhchiroli district, Maharashtra.
As per the complaint, the parents took their ill children on their shoulders, through muddy paths as there were no paved roads connecting Pattigaon. They reached the nearest health centre in Jimlagattta, only to hear that their kids were declared dead. Meanwhile, no ambulance was provided to carry the dead bodies back to their home village.
Tripathy, the complainant, has quoted another incident that a pregnant woman named Kavita A Sakol, in Dahendri village, of tribal region Melghat under the district Amravati, had delivered a stillborn child at her home and then succumbed to her injuries on September 01, 2024, as a local hospital allegedly failed to send an ambulance to pick her up on time.
The NHRC transmitted the petition to the authorities through online mode, to have the allegations inquired as well as ensure needful action and submit a report to the Commission within four weeks.
The complainant, Tripathy, has requested to take immediate legal action against the negligent officials who failed to address the issue of human rights violation of the dead children and their parents. She has also sought to ensure all-weather roads, adequate ambulance facilities along with payment of compensation to the grieved families.