India: Man dies outside a government hospital after wife could not afford Rs5 (Dh0.25) admission slip

A man died outside a government hospital, in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, after lying under a tree for 12 hours because his wife could not afford to buy an admission ticket worth Rs5 (Dh0.25). Twitter users are sharing the plight faced by Sunil Rajak, the deceased, and his family.

The incident took place in the city of Guna. Local news outlets reported that Rajak’s wife, Aarti, said that no one listened to her pleas for help even after her husband died. It was more than an hour later that someone finally helped with the body, she claimed.

Aarti said that Rajak fell ill on July 22. She left him under a tree to get formalities of admission done.

“I went into the hospital and someone outside the counter told me that I would have to pay for the ‘parcha’ (slip). I kept telling people that he is still breathing and can be saved, but no one came to help. Even after he died, I kept waiting for an hour before anyone came around to help,” Aarti as quoted as saying.

Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Kamal Nath, @OfficeOfKNath, took to Twitter to express his anger over the matter.

He tweeted in Hindi: “This is not how I had left the state. You were busy in the auction of MLAs (Member of the Legislative Assembly) but a woman in Guna, carrying a toddler, kept pleading all day to save her husband’s life. He wasn’t treated because he didn’t have Rs5 to buy a slip. He gasped to death in front of his wife. Is this the condition of the state under Shivraj government?”

Meanwhile, the Guna administration has ordered a magisterial probe into the matter.

While Aarti claimed that she didn’t have Rs5 to buy an admission slip, local authorities also said that getting a consultation ticket is free in government hospitals, Indian media reported.

However, the woman reportedly said that she was asked to pay for the ticket, and she had to go back to arrange cash.

Social media users reacted to the incident.

Twitter user @Bikku4ever wrote: "Such incident is so shameful for a state where a man dies because his wife doesn’t have Rs 5 (Dh0.25) for 'parcha' (slip). What could be more new low in health facility in MP (MAdhya Pradesh)? Shame."