Will The Govt. Open It's Eyes

NSG commando fights for his life in a Delhi hospital


As the country salutes the NSG commandos who freed Mumbai from the terrorists at the cost of their lives, one of their fraternity, 29-year-old Manoj Kumar Routrey, is fighting for his life, uncared and unlooked after.

"We have run out of money and there is no response from the government," says Krishna Routrey, his brother, who is attending the ailing commando at New Delhi's safdurjung hospital.

Manoj, who was posted in Chennai as part of Chief Minister M Karunanidhi's proximate security, was brought to Safdurjang hospital after the doctors in Chennai could not treat him.

He needs to be given doses of Capofungen injection, which cost Rs 12,500 per day. The hospital, a Central Government unit, has told the Routreys to get the medicine from open market, as it is not available in its medical stores. "We have approached the National Security Guards for help, but so far there is no response," says Krishna.

Manoj was diagnosed as suffering with malarial fever on September 22, 2008. He was admitted to the Government General Hospital in Chennai. When his condition deteriorated, his brother Krishna, who works in New Delhi, was called and asked to take charge of the ailing commando.

Upon reaching Chennai, Krishna was advised by the doctors to shift Manoj to Apollo Hospital since the Government hospital was not equipped to handle the case. "After being admitted to Apollo, I had to spent Rs 1.5 lakh on the very first day. The doctors there gave me the bad news that my brother's immune system was not working and his body had been paralysed. When I reached the city, my brother was not able to speak even a single word. Shocked with his condition, my mother fell ill," says Krishna Routrey.

The NSG, unlike the military, doesn't have a dedicated health service and its personnel are covered by the omnibus Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS). In fact, there is a great divide between the NSG commandos who are from the military and those from the paramilitary forces.

While the 'faujis' get their medical cover from the Army Medical Corp, which has under its belt state-of-the-art hospitals like the Referral and Research Centre, the other commandos have to depend on the NSG hospital at Manesar for first aid and thereafter they are looked after by the hospitals under the CGHS.

Since Manoj is from the Border Security Force, he falls among the have-nots. "When we informed the NSG of the situation and asked it to clear the bills, we were told to shift Manoj to Delhi as the commando group had a tie-up with the Indraprastha Apollo Hospital in the Capital. With a lot of effort and putting his life at risk, we brought Manoj to Delhi after a 36-hour train journey and got him admitted to Apollo. To our dismay, we learnt that the tie-up between the hospital and NSG had lapsed in 1999. It was a big shock," Krishna informs.

The family brought the matter to the notice of the NSG chief, who sanctioned a pittance of Rs 50,000 in two instalments of Rs 10,000 and Rs 40,000. "We have spent about Rs 8 lakh on Manoj's expenses till now. We could manage to get out of Apollo only thanks to the grant of Rs 3 lakh-grant from the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister," he adds.

Unable to cope with the expenses, the family decided to shift Manoj to Safdarjung Hospital. "Though his condition has improved and he has started talking, the treatment prescribed is long and the cost if beyond our reach," rues Krishna, running from pillar to post for his command brother's life.

News Report From sify.


It's horrible to hear such news.Surely the government should be sympathetic towards its Real Jewels.Why is no 24x7 channels taking up this Commando's story ?