Team News Riveting
Raipur, February 3
Family members of a deceased employee of Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP), an arm of state-run Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), had refused to cremate the body for the last 40 days in Chhattisgarh’s Durg district demanding a job on the compassionate grounds.
According to reports, 57-year-old Kartik Ram, who was working as an attendant in the safety engineering department of BSP Karthik was admitted to Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital in Bhilai on November 26. As his health condition deteriorated, he was referred to Ramakrishna Hospital here the next day.
Kartik’s wife Asan Bai said he returned from Raipur and was admitted back to Bhilai hospital on December 11. On improving his health, Kartik Ram was discharged from the hospital on December 26 but the very next day he was again admitted to Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital. Kartik Ram died on January 4.
Even after 40 days have passed, the family members have refused to cremate the body as they are demanding a job on compassionate grounds.
Asan Bai said the doctors of the hospital had given information that both the kidneys of Kartik Ram had stopped working and was the cause of his death. According to the rules of the steel plant, there was a provision to give compassionate appointment to a dependent in case of employee’s death caused due to kidney failure.
Citing the rules, the family members had been demanding a job from the BSP. Asan Bai asserted that the body would not be cremated till the authorities handed over an appointment letter to the family members. Kartik Ram’s body had been kept in the hospital’s mortuary.
The BSP management said that Karthik was admitted to Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital following fever and phlegm problem. He was also referred to the Ramkrishna Care Hospital in Raipur for better treatment and was also treated back at the Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital. He died while undergoing treatment.
Kartik Ram died due to multi organ failure and there was no specific mention of kidney treatment in any medical records of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital and Research Center and also Ramkrishna Care Hospital referred for medical treatment, the management said, adding that it underlined that he was not a patient of chronic renal disease.
Durg District Additional Collector Prakash Sarva said that despite several rounds of negotiations held between the plant management and family members, the issue could not be resolved. As the condition of the body was deteriorating and the doctors feared risk of infection, the administration could perform the last rites after serving a final notice to the family members, he added.
