Ranchi: To bring an end to the monopoly being done by the operators of hearse vehicles for carrying the bodies of the Covid deceased the Health Department on Wednesday fixed the maximum fare at Rs 500.
An order in this regard has been issued by Health Secretary Nitin Madan Kulkarni. In the order, it has been said that no private hospitals or ambulance operators would be able to do a monopoly in collecting fare for taking the dead bodies of the people who have lost their lives due to Coronavirus.
However, the department has included some additional expenditure to the maximum fare which included Rs 700 for the PPE kits if it is being provided by the hospital or it will not be charged if the kit is being provided by the kin of the deceased. Further, it would be the responsibility of the hospitals to get the hearse vehicles sanitised for which a maximum they can collect Rs 200 from the family members.
The health department has said that if the body has to be taken up to a distance of 10 kilometers than a maximum of Rs 500 would be paid however after that for every kilometre the family would have to pay Rs 9 as transportation charge for both coming and going.
The department said that in the time of the crisis the people and institutions needed to be sensitive and exploitation of families will not be tolerated. The Civil Surgeons have been asked to make sure that the rules are strictly followed or else strict action would be taken against the violators.
The order further said that after the demise of a Covid patient if the family members do not come to take the body than within 24 hours the administration would ensure its last rites by following the Covid-19 guidelines. Moreover, the private or government hospital where a Corona patient has died will keep the body for four days and no charge would be collected from the kin however from day 5 till the family members arrange a vehicle to take the body Rs 500 would be charged.