KASARGOD: Primary school teacher Padmanabha M -- deployed by the government to implement Covid protocol — died in a First-Line Treatment Centre (CFLTC) on Saturday night. He was 47. Padmanabha — a teacher at Government High School at Soorambail in Puthige panchayat -- was suffering from breathlessness and severe diarrhoea and he repeatedly requested the medical and health officials to shift him to a hospital but they dismissed it as routine symptoms of Covid-19.
District medical officer Dr A V Ramdas said he checked with the doctor at the CFLTC and there were no lapses on their part. “It was a case of sudden death,” he said. The family and colleagues of Padmanabha have accused medical staff at the CFLTC in Manjeshwar and health officials of Puthige panchayat of criminal negligence leading to his death.
The BJP has held the state government responsible for his death. Padmanabha was among the school teachers deployed by District Collector D Sajith Babu to ensure people wore masks and adhered to Covid preventive measures in the 777 local body wards in the district. The collector called the initiative ‘Maash’, an everyday word for master or teacher.
On October 1, Padmanabha posted 15 photographs on his Facebook saying ‘On Maash duty in the 7th ward of Puthige panchayat to control Covid-19’. In the photographs, he was seen posing with vegetable vendors, and before grocery stores. “All he had was a mask to protect him. The government did not provide him, face shield or gloves,” said Ashok Badoor, a former teacher and neighbour of Padmanabha.
On October 6, while on Maash duty, he tested positive for Covid. Though he had fever and breathing difficulties, he was taken to the CFLTC, said a teacher and a close friend. “At the CFLTC, he got diarrhoea. He was going to the toilet at 30 times a day,” she said. Padmanabha asked the medical staff to shift him to a hospital, but they dismissed it as routine symptoms, she said. He then called the health inspector of Puthige because he was working for him, said his nephew Jayachandra. “But the official said patient care was the responsibility of the medical staff at the centre,” he said.
The teacher said Padmanabha called his colleagues and told them that he was unhappy with the treatment at the centre. “On Saturday, he was not attending the calls of any of us. In the evening, he picked the call of another teacher. He sounded depressed,” she said. Jayachandra has shot off letters to the Governor, the Health Minister, the collector, and the DMO seeking a thorough inquiry into the alleged lapses.
He also demanded compensation for the family because he was the only earning member of the family.
Padmanabha got the teacher’s job four years ago when he was 44 years. His only brother Krishna has intellectual disabilities and was dependent on him, said Ashok Badoor. “Krishna had also contracted Covid and is admitted to the same CFLTC. His wife and two children are being monitored at their house,” he said. Padmanabha was unmarried.
The DMO said Padmanabha was attended to by an able doctor and he was administered IV saline. Saturday night there was a complication and an ambulance was sent to shift him to the hospital. “But before the ambulance could reach the centre, he died. It was a case of sudden death,” he said. Padmanabha might have suffered a heart attack. BJP’s district president K Shreekanth said there was a clear case of negligence. “But now it is hard to prove and the death will be attributed to a heart attack,” he said. The party has demanded an inquiry and a compensation of `50 lakh for his family.