With a shortage of ambulances and reluctance of private vehicles to carry Covid-19 patients and their family members, a local politician in a remote village in Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram has taken up the role of a driver.
Rafeekh A R, who is an advocate by profession and a ward member of the Andoorkonam grama panchayat in the suburbs of Thiruvananthapuram, took up the role of an ambulance driver after he came across the difficulties being faced by virus-infected families to reach the testing camp.
A mass testing camp was initiated in Thiruvelloor area, which Rafeekh represents, after it was declared a containment zone due to a large number of positive cases.
Rafeekh, who is also chairman of the health standing committee of the panchayat, took it upon himself the drivers job after he came to know that families of Covid-infected patients, who do not have a vehicle, were unable to visit the testing camp. Most families in the region are economically backward and do not own a vehicle.
Rafeekh told DH that while other vehicle owners were reluctant to carry families of Covid-19 patients due to fear of getting infected, private ambulances were demanding an exorbitant price of Rs 1,000 per person citing risk factors and cost for disinfecting the vehicle after carrying each family.
"Though the panchayat had recently got back their ambulance after the maintenance work, there is no driver to run it. The contract appointment of the driver could not take place owing to the election code of conduct," Rafeekh said.
The 32-year-old leader said he followed all the Covid-19 protocols while driving the ambulance.
Deccan Herald is on WhatsApp Channels| Join now for Breaking News & Editor's Picks