Man forced to carry father’s body on shoulders Majhi deja vu in Odisha

said Sarat Barik of Kothasahi village under Rajkanika block had to carry his father Rabi Narayan Barik’s body on his shoulders due to the unavailability of a hearse or any other mode of transport at the community health centre (CHC), where the latter was admitted. The incident happened on Wednesday

Sarat’s father was on Tuesday admitted to a local CHC due to jaundice. However, he died while undergoing treatment. As Sarat didn’t have a single penny to arrange a transport to carry his father’s body back to the village, he requested the CHC authorities to help him.

As there was no hearse facility, the hospital authorities expressed their inability to help.

With no other options left, Sarat carried his father’s body on his shoulders for about one km and was later helped by his uncle. En route, a person helped Sarat by allowing the body to be carried on his bike to the village. Although the body of the deceased was kept on the verandah of the hospital for more than two hours, the health officer-in-charge of the CHC, however, said he was unaware of the incident

“I was at a meeting when the incident took place. There is no facility here for carrying corpses,” said Dr Ajit Das, the health officer. With the ministry of road transport and highways issuing Taxi Policy guidelines, the government is set to bring Uber, Ola and other app-based taxi aggregators under government control.

Though the government decided to approve surge pricing, Uber and Ola should validate algorithms used for distance and fare calculation. Quality of these applications should be audited by Standardisation Testing and Quality Certification (STQC) or any other agency authorised by the ministry of electronic and information technology (MEITY), on a one-time basis, the guidelines said.

Aggregators should also preserve and provide on demand the data regarding taxi trips and customers for a period specified by the state transport, police or any other enforcement authorities as per law.

Another major directive to the state is to allow bike taxis. The Centre recommended conversion of existing private bikes into taxis.

Niti Aayog, a member of the committee which prepared the guidelines, stressed the need for bringing surge pricing under control. The guidelines stipulate that in order to protect the consumers in emergency situations, there can be a clause to suspend or cap surge during heavy rain, floods or any other emergency situation.