Woman delivers baby in auto-rickshaw, court gives compensation

Woman delivers baby in auto-rickshaw, court gives compensation New Delhi, Oct 21 (PTI) A woman, who had to deliver her baby in an auto-rickshaw after being denied ambulance service, has been awarded a compensation of Rs 50,000 by the Delhi Consumer Commission which held the government-run ESI hospital guilty for deficiency in service. "These hospitals are meant for providing medical facilities particularly to the weaker sections of the society and making them to run from pillar to post for getting treatment is inexcusable and for such grossest deficiency in service, the hospitals are bound to compensate the patients," Commission President Justice J D Kapoor said. The Commission also into consideration the fact that the new-born baby could not survive due to lack of prompt medical care on the part of the hospital. Jasde Negi, a resident of Trilokpuri in east Delhi, was regularly visiting the Noida-based ESI hospital after she conceived. On June 21, last year, she was denied the ambulance services by the hospital when she was writhing in labour pain. The woman, was refused admission and was rather advised to approach GTB hospital for delivery. The harried woman delivered the baby in an auto-rickshaw on her way to the GTB hospital. The child, unfortunately, could not survive. The ESI hospital took the plea that its two ambulances out of three were out of order and it had no other option but to advise the woman to go to GTB on her own. "Ambulances are such vehicles, which have to be kept in perfect order and available at every given point of time... and the organisation did not pay any heed to such kind of deficiencies," the Commission said in a release. PTI