Patiala: Mata Kaushalya Hospital lacks postmortem facility, victims’ families harassed

Mata Kaushalya Hospital, a district civil hospital in the CM’s home turf, does not have post mortem facilities. Though the hospital has a mortuary, the administration

Mata Kaushalya Hospital, a district civil hospital in the CM’s home turf, does not have post mortem facilities. Though the hospital has a mortuary, the administration has failed to bring it into use.

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In the absence of the facility, dead bodies are being referred to Rajindra Hospital, which inconveniences the victims’ family members. As per the district health department, Mata Kaushalya Hospital (MKH) was upgraded to a civil hospital in 2017. However, three years later, the hospital is yet to offer post mortem facilities.

An official, on condition of anonymity, said, “It is a shame that all civil hospitals in the state are conducting postmortems, except Mata Kaushalya Hospital. Whenever a dead body comes to the hospital, they send it to Rajindra Hospital for an autopsy.”

Medical superintendent (MS) of the hospital Dr Renu Agarwal said, “We do not have staff for conducting autopsies. We have sent a list of required staff to the state health department.”

“We also do not have a separate entrance for the mortuary. The main entrance is very congested and it is impossible for heavy vehicles to cross the main gate. Earlier, a provision of separate entrance was included in the plan of mortuary but the health department did not make separate gate. I have also written to the state health department to make a separate entrance for the mortuary,”