NHRC asks Odisha to pay Rs 3 lakh to kin of woman who died after ambulance failed to reach her on time
BHUBANESWAR: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has urged the Odisha government to pay Rs 3 lakh to the family members of an ASHA worker of Daringbadi in Kandhamal district who died as the ambulance could not reach her place on time due to lack of road connectivity four years back.
Disposing of a petition filed by Supreme Court lawyer and human rights activist Radhakanta Tripathy, the apex human rights panel has asked the chief secretary to ensure that the compensation amount has been paid to the kin of the deceased and submit the compliance report of payment on December 13.
According to the petition, ASHA worker Mini Pradhan, a native of Budupanka village, had died on September 5, 2016, on the way to Daringbadi hospital, nearly 25 km away, in an auto-rickshaw, she was travelling in for her delivery. The ambulance could not reach her place due to the lack of proper road and mobile connectivity.
Mini had given birth to a girl child on the way but her condition deteriorated due to profuse bleeding. Though later the woman and baby were rushed to the hospital, she was declared brought dead.
Pursuant to the directions of the NHRC, the Director (Administration) of National Health Mission stated that mobile connectivity was not up to mark in the area and to mitigate the problem, the state government has been reimbursing the cost under the SAMMPURNA scheme since September 2017 for shifting pregnant women from difficult terrains where an ambulance cannot reach.
The NHRC expressed serious displeasure over the contention of the state and wondered if the government ambulance cannot reach the difficult terrain where there is no proper connectivity, how can the private transport facility operate for which the state claims to have been reimbursing the transportation cost.
Mini was in good health and she had last attended the Village Health Nutrition Day session on September 2 when she had informed the doctor about her expected date of delivery. On that day, her other vitals were within the normal range.
Accepting the complainant’s submission that the helpline numbers are useless when there is no mobile connectivity, the rights body held the health authorities negligent and observed that they had violated the human rights of the deceased and her newborn child.
Meanwhile, the government has asked the Additional Chief Secretary of Health and Family Welfare department to make the requisite payment of compensation.