UP hospital throws out paralysis patient

Dumped as he had no one to take care of him

A paralysis patient, who could not walk, was allegedly thrown out of a government hospital in Uttar Pradesh’s Baharaich district as there was no one to attend him and the hospital employees had to take care of him.

Santram Vishwakarma, a Dalit, who had no family members to look after him, was brought to the district hospital four days ago by some acquaintances from his village. They left after admitting him.

“There was no one with Santram. He was fully dependent on the hospital employees, who used to admonish him whenever he told them to do something,” said Surendra Kumar, whose relative had also been admitted in the same ward.

Kumar said that Santram was taken away by some hospital employees on Sunday and did not return.

“They said he had been discharged and that his family members have taken him back to his village,” Kumar added.

But Santram was dumped into some bushes outside the hospital. Even with rains lashing
the district, no one bothered to help Santram.

On Monday, some attendants happened to hear his cries and rushed to the spot. They saw him lying in the bushes and brought him back to the hospital gate. He was later admitted again.

“He had shown improvement and may have been discharged on the insistence of someone from his family,” said chief superintendent of the hospital Dr K Ram. He said he will look into the matter and punish the guilty.

The incident reflects the state of affairs in government hospitals in UP. The state also saw a huge scam in the implementation of the National Rural Health Mission.
Barely a few days ago it had been found that ward boys and sweepers had been giving stitches and injections to wounded people.

A few months ago, some auxiliary nurse midwives were found engaged in delivery of babies under candlelight as there was no power and the generator was not working at a community health centre in Barabanki.