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Odisha MLA carries pregnant woman on sling for 6 km, drives her to hospital
Bad roads often pose great difficulties to evacuate people to hospitals in many parts of Odisha and prevent ambulances from reaching those in need.
In a good samaritan act, an MLA of Odisha’s Nabarangpur who had gone visiting his constituency carried a pregnant woman on a sling for 6 km and later took her to hospital in his car on Monday.
Manhar Randhari, an MLA of the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) from Dabugam constituency in Nabarangpur, had gone to a remote village in his constituency when he came across Jema Behera of Kusumkhunti village in the district undergoing labour pains. Though an ambulance was called to take the woman to nearest hospital, the vehicle could not reach the village due to lack of motorable roads. When Randhari heard this, he reached the village and carried the woman on a sling along with his associates for 6 km negotiating the hilly terrain.
The lawmaker played down his efforts to take the woman to a hospital.
“It was nothing extraordinary. As representative of the people, I am supposed to be with them in their times of difficulties,” said Randhari. The MLA later drove the woman to a a primary health centre in his car.
The pregnant woman has been kept under observation in the hospital.
Bad roads often pose great difficulties to evacuate people to hospitals in many parts of Odisha and prevent ambulances from reaching those in need.
Last month, a doctor and his team in Maoist-affected Malkangiri district also carried a pregnant woman on a makeshift stretcher for 30 km to get her to a government hospital. Radheshyam Jena, a doctor working in Kalimela community health centre of Malkangiri district carried a tribal woman Rinama Bare of Kodidulagundi village on a stretcher as the ambulance could not reach her village.
