TIRUPATI: The father of a 10-year-old boy, who died due to a kidney ailment in SVR Ruia Government General Hospital, was forced to carry the body on a motorcycle to his village, which is 90 km away from Tirupati, for some distance when private ambulance drivers at the hospital refused to shift the body at the fare prescribed by the government. They did not even allow another ambulance driver, who came to shift the body to the village in the early hours of Tuesday, to enter the hospital.
After widespread criticism, a preliminary inquiry was conducted into the incident following instructions from the Chief Minister’s Office and the Resident Medical Officer of Ruia Hospital was suspended. A showcause notice was served on the hospital superintendent. Tirupati Collector K Venkataramana Reddy said a criminal case was registered against four ambulance drivers in connection with the incident.
According to police, Narasimhulu from Pengaluru ST colony in Annamayya district admitted his son Jeseva, who was suffering from some kidney ailment, in Ruia Hospital on Sunday. Jeseva reportedly died due to kidney failure around 10.30 pm on Monday. Ambulance drivers on the hospital premises demanded Rs 20,000 to shift the body to Narasimhulu’s native village. Narasimhulu pleaded with the drivers to reduce the fare as he had only Rs 7,000. However, the drivers refused to reduce the fare. When he explained the situation to one of his villagers Srikanth Yadav, he arranged an ambulance to shift the body free of cost.
When the ambulance reached Ruia Hospital, the drivers refused to allow it to enter the hospital and threatened its driver to leave the place. Left with no option, Narasimhulu carried the body of his son on a motorcycle. After reaching Karakambadi, the body was put in an ambulance and shifted to Narasimhulu’s village.With videos of the incident going viral on the social media, the State government had constituted a team with Tirupati RDO Kanaka Narasa Reddy, DMHO Srihari and Tirupati East DSP Murali Krishna to probe the incident.
The ambulance operators at Ruia Hospital demanded an abnormal fare of Rs 8,500 for a distance of 50 km. All other drivers in the hospital stand demanded the same fare as they formed themselves into a syndicate. Then he booked an ambulance online for Rs 3,500. Soon after the patient was shifted into the ambulance, some local operators attacked its driver and snatched away the vehicle key.
Even the patient was not allowed to put on oxygen support. During the tussle, the patient died due to lack of oxygen. Alipiri police had registered a case against three ambulance drivers under Section 341, 323, 506 (34) of the IPC and arrested them. Though the police promised to set up a police picket at the hospital to control the excesses of ambulance drivers, it is yet to be fulfilled.
“The district administration has failed to eradicate the ambulance mafia at Ruia Hospital. Despite repeated incidents of excesses by the ambulance mafia, no strong mechanism has been put in place to curb the menace. The prices for ambulance services should be reasonable,” said CITU district president K Murali.
Patients in serious condition from Kadapa, Nellore, Anantapur and Chittoor districts are brought to Ruia Hospital in Tirupati. The Mahaprasthanam vehicle allotted to the hospital to shift the bodies is not being used.
“We will submit a report on operation of the Mahaprasthanam vehicle to the Ruia Hospital authorities to prevent recurrence of this kind of incidents. Steps will be taken to offer ambulances services at reasonable prices and the excesses of local operators will be curbed,” said Tirupati RDO Kanaka Narasa Reddy.