TIRUCHY: A 27-year-old domestic breeding checker (DBC) of Manapparai municipality, who was receiving treatment for burns sustained while burning medical waste on the premises of the old government hospital campus, succumbed on Thursday.
Holding health department officials responsible for his death, irate relatives and hundreds of DBC employees staged a protest at Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital (MGMGH), where the post-mortem was held, on Saturday.
Tamizhaga Dengue Mattum Kosu Ozhipu Paniyalar Sangam state vice president R Balamurugan said, "On June 26, DBC worker Kalaiarasan, who usually worked in the rural areas of Manapparai, received a call from a health department official in Manapparai to head to the old GH campus, where the Manapparai PHC is functioning from, and burn the medical waste on the premises.
Kalaiarasan followed the instructions. While burning the waste he caught fire and sustained severe burns." "After administering basic first aid in Manapparai GH, he was taken to MGMGH as his condition was critical and was admitted around nighttime.
However, not responding to treatment, he died in the hospital on June 29. We demand a proper inquiry into the issue and a government job for one of his family members, besides a solatium of Rs 25 lakh," he added. When enquired, a health department source said a Siddha dispensary that was functioning on the old GH campus shifted, following which the Manapparai PHC recently decided to utilise the space for expansion.
It was as part of the shifting that Kalaiarasan was called to the campus to clear it, the source added. Local sources in Manapparai said Kalaiarasan was carrying medical waste, including sanitisers. He caught fire when he tried to burn a box containing the liquid, they added.
While a senior health official said an inquiry will be held into Kalaiarasan’s death, District Collector M Pradeep Kumar said, "Health department officials told me that the worker decided to burn the waste on his own without any instructions given by the former. I have, however, directed for a detailed inquiry." A police case has been registered.