<p class="title">The district administration is yet to release the money to owners of a fleet of ambulances involved in ferrying Covid-19 victims to the burial ground.</p>.<p class="title">"Our staff who have been rendering selfless service are also deprived of safety gears," said Sri Ganesh Ambulance Owner Gangadhar.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Initially, when four patients died of Covid-19, I had offered my ambulance to ferry the bodies. Later, officials appealed to me on providing ambulance services to ferry the bodies at regular intervals. I agreed on humanitarian grounds. But there is no one to listen to our woes. They call us only to ferry dead bodies," he rued.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Gangadhar said that there is a need for two ambulances to ferry each body and a rent of Rs 1,000 was fixed by the authorities.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Our ambulance has ferried over 80 bodies so far. Yet, money has not been released. Our demand to provide financial assistance and insurance coverage to ambulance drivers and staff under Covid-19 warriors definition has not yet been realised," he added.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Our staff members are working for the betterment of society. While shifting the body from private hospitals, none come to our help. Recently, our staff were forced to carry a body up to a distance for 200 kilometres in Moodbidri. There are times when bodies were cremated in the dead of midnight. Who will listen to our woes?" asks Gangadhar.</p>
<p class="title">The district administration is yet to release the money to owners of a fleet of ambulances involved in ferrying Covid-19 victims to the burial ground.</p>.<p class="title">"Our staff who have been rendering selfless service are also deprived of safety gears," said Sri Ganesh Ambulance Owner Gangadhar.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Initially, when four patients died of Covid-19, I had offered my ambulance to ferry the bodies. Later, officials appealed to me on providing ambulance services to ferry the bodies at regular intervals. I agreed on humanitarian grounds. But there is no one to listen to our woes. They call us only to ferry dead bodies," he rued.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Gangadhar said that there is a need for two ambulances to ferry each body and a rent of Rs 1,000 was fixed by the authorities.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Our ambulance has ferried over 80 bodies so far. Yet, money has not been released. Our demand to provide financial assistance and insurance coverage to ambulance drivers and staff under Covid-19 warriors definition has not yet been realised," he added.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Our staff members are working for the betterment of society. While shifting the body from private hospitals, none come to our help. Recently, our staff were forced to carry a body up to a distance for 200 kilometres in Moodbidri. There are times when bodies were cremated in the dead of midnight. Who will listen to our woes?" asks Gangadhar.</p>
