Another shocking incident occurred in Odisha after an expectant mother delivered her baby in an auto-rickshaw a few kilometres away from the hospital, and the baby died after slipping from the vehicle in Nabarangpur district.
Jamuna Bhatra of Chalanguda village, Umerkote block in Nabrangpur district had been experiencing labour pains since early morning on Tuesday. Her husband, Madhu Bhatra had called the ‘Janani Express’, a novel transport system for carrying expectant mothers to the nearby health institutions.
The couple waited for a few hours, but after Jamuna’s pain became unbearable they hired an auto-rickshaw with the help of a local ASHA worker and took her to the nearest Community Health Centre (CHC) in Umerkote which is 20 kms away from their village.
Owing to the bad condition of the kuchha road, Jamuna delivered a baby girl in the auto-rickshaw few kilometres away from the CHC. Moreover, the mother was so weak that she was unable to hold her baby properly and the baby slipped, thereby causing her death.
On 24 August in Odisha’s backward Kalahandi district, a man was forced to carry his wife’s body on his shoulder for 10 kilometres due to the hospital allegedly neglecting to provide a hearse. Dana Majhi’s 42-year-old wife Amang Dei had died of tuberculosis on Wednesday morning at the district hospital at Bhawanipatna.
Nabarangpur district is one of the most backward districts of the country, where Adivasis constitute over 55% of population. Incidentally, it is adjacent to the Kalahandi district where the previous incident happened.
Notably, there are around 362 villages in Nabarangpur district where the government’s initiative, ‘Janani Express’ simply does not reach. There are no proper roads to 221 villages in the district, making it very difficult to implement the government schemes instituted for the betterment of the people.
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