SPECIAL REPORT

Deadbody of Rajendra Kurup stranded in the Gulf Hospital

UMESH KUMAR

Kollam: November 15: The relatives of a Malayalee worker who died in a Gulf country five days ago are running from pillar to post to get the dead body released from a hospital mortuary in Muscat for the last four days.

Ramachandra Kurup, a 32 year old ordinary Indian worker from Nilamel, Chadayamangalam, Quilon District of Kerala, died in Muscat following a tragic accident in which he sustained some burn injuries. This is a typical case where even after death, the Gulf Indian has to pay through his noses for the huge medical bills incurred during his treatment. To his misfortune, the bill for ten days medical treatment is running into several lakhs of Indian rupees. -an amount not affordable to his family or the Arab sponsor. The Indian associations which are said to be created to protect the Indian community in the Gulf are also not helping the dead Malayalee!

According to his family members in Kerala, Kurup was admitted to the Khoula Hospital near Muscat around two weeks ago by his friends and distant relatives there. He sustained burn injuries from a gas stove accident, went to the hospital on his own and got admitted for treatment. He had been under treatment for about 10 days before succumbing to the burn injuries. Unfortunately Kurup died four days ago, but the dead body is still lying in the mortuary for non payment of huge hospital bills. His relatives do not known whether the dead body will ever be flown back to India. He has a two year old daughter, young wife and an old father-- a heart patient.--who are not yet aware of his tragic death and the ongoing drama surrounding the dead body .

Rajendra Kurup

Relatives are not sure whether Ramachandran's body will be allowed to bury locally with permission from the local Royal Omani Police. Even for burying the dead body in the gulf country , the relatives or friends have to pay the due amount to get a death certificate from the Hospital -- a mandatory requirement to start all other procedures-- either to to airlift the body to India or to bury it in the Gulf. These ordinary people do not have access to the higher authorities in Muscat or the Indian government to find an immediate solution for the vexed body problem.

The dead body is lying in the mortuary because the Hospital authorities will not release it to his friends and relatives before making a payment of around Omani Rial 5,500 ( Indian Rupees 6,35,060 -six lakhs thirty five thousand and sixty only at an exchange rate of RO 1 = 113 Indian Rupees.) Like thousands of Malayalee workers in the Gulf, the deceased was not working in a well established company with sufficient insurance protection and safety net. Efforts are on to collect some money or get a reduced bill for releasing the body so that it can be send back to India and buried peacefully according to Hindu rituals.

Neither Late Rajendran's local sponsor-- an ordinary Arab national running a small delivery van service -nor his friends and relatives are able to remit this huge amount in lieu of ten day's treatment in the hospital to get the dead body. His nearest relatives are not even aware of his death which occurred hardly eight months after he came back from his annual leave.

The Hospital dues left by Ramachandra Kurup for ten days treatment in Khoula hospital (RO 5600) is equivalent to the annual income of an ordinary Indian worker for about 10 to 15 years. The bill amount includes room rent plus other charges at the rate of RO 90 per day and the remaining amount is or medicines. It is understood that even the Arab sponsor, who is known to be an ordinary small scale businessman, is unable to bear this huge bill. The poor Arab has been trying to help the relatives by seeking official help to get the bill reduced to an affordable level!! The same plight awaits similar workers who are toiling in the Arabian desert -they work with sponsors who are not able to meet these type of emergency situations. Out of several million Indian workers in the Gulf countries, more than 3 lakhs are employed in Oman.

For thousands of ordinary expatriate unskilled worker toiling in the Gulf countries, going back to his motherland through proper channel after several years of hard work in the deserts is only a distant and unrealisable dream. In the case of Ramachandra Kurup who had been working in the Gulf for the last eight years, going back to his native village has become almost impossible even after his tragic deathl! He has no immediate relatives in the Gulf to take care of his dead body or a big bank balance to finance his treatment. There is no insurance protection for several Indian workers who are engaged in petty jobs.

For expatriate workers like Ramachandran,, medical expense is becoming very high in the Gulf countries. Workers who do not have sufficient medical insurance and sponsor support will find it difficult to meet such expenses. Normally good companies give medical insurance coverage to overseas workers. The deceased was doing some semiskilled works which nowadays are not very well paid jobs in the Gulf. According to information available in Kerala, even though another Malayalee worker died following burn injuries in the same hospital, his dead body will be flown back to India because there was sufficient insurance cover for him.

Kerala Monitor also understands that sometimes back an Indian driver died in a Gulf country and his Arab sponsor refused to take responsibility for sending back the dead body. There are cases of dead bodies remaining in the mortuary of Gulf hospitals for several months! The tragic incident and the ongoing dichotomy over the dead body and hospital dues raises several mute points about the safety of Indian workers in the Gulf, the lacuna in the safety net and insurance protection system and the responsibility of Indian government and Indian embassy to intervene in such cases and help the illiterate workers. While their hard earned foreign exchange is strengthening the Indian economy, the Indian government seems to be neglecting even "the grave problems" of overseas Indian workers. Literally grave problem in the case of Ramachandra Kurup. The Indian government should not be targeting only the hard currency earned by ordinary Indian workers, but should help them in their hardships also. Even after death, the Indian embassy charges money just for attesting documents for airlifting dead bodies.

Unfortunately, Rajendran's dead body will remain in the mortuary till the sponsore manages to get some concession from the hospital authorities or his near and dear ones manage to collect that amount through donations and support from fellow Indians. Illiterate workers are not even aware of the legal and technical intricacies involved in getting the dead body released from the hospital and airlifted to Kerala. Even after paying the huge hospital bill, Rajendran's dead body will be airlifted only if the Indian embassy is paid RO 19 (Rs. 2160) for attesting the death certificate and other documents issued by the local authorities. If a poor worker does not have any bank balance, the Indian authorities may also hold back the dead body.

Even to bury such dead bodies in the Gulf country itself, the money is to be remitted to get a death certificate from the hospital. Without a death certificate from the hospital, the local police will not allow the burial of the dead body in the Arab land. According to sources, Rajendran's predicament after his death is not an isolated incident in the Gulf countries. Due to such reasons, it is not uncommon for dead bodies to remain in the mortuary for several months. Even if he is dead, Rajendran has left behind a huge liability which his friends and relatives find very difficult to handle. Air India , the national airlines of the country too had been taking its share of the booty from the Indian workers, even for airlifting their dead body. The Pravasi Suraksha Scheme which was introduced by the Kerala state government remains a non-starter as insurance companies are said to be not keen to take huge risks associated with such schemes.

 

Kerala MP's Magic Powers to get the deadbody released:

If a report by the reputed Mathrubhoomi daily is to be believed, one of the local MPs intervention only helped the dead Rajendra Kurup's deadbody to be released so fast. According to the report, the timely intervention of the Kerala politician helped the relatives to get Kurup's deadbody without paying Rs. 7 lakhs! Even though the deadbody was lying in the mortuary for about 20 days---what a powerful Member of Parliament.

It is another matter that the Mathrubhoomi report appeared on November 27 after the deadbody reached Kerala after so much running around by some poor co workers and relatives of the dead man. When the deadbody was lying in the mortuary for about 20 days, no Kerala politician or newspapers bothered to do something about it. As soon as the deadbody landed in Kerala, there are several people to take claim because even if Mr. Kurup is dead, his relatives are having voting rights. When Kurup was in the Gulf, he was of no use to the politicians as the NRIs are still not eligible to vote for these respected politicians. However, we would like to make it clear that the issue was brought to the notice of Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and others by Kerala Monitor following which things started moving. Thanks to these efforts, as reported by a local English paper from Muscat, there is a proposal to make insurance coverage compulsory for Indian workers. NOT EVEN A SINGLE INDIAN NEWSPAPER OR TV MEDIA CAME FORWARD TO BRING THE TRAGIC SITUATION TO THE NOTICE OF CONCERNED AUTHORITIES.