A harried father with a sick child spent Rs 30 from Samastipur to Patna but had to spend double the amount in the last few kilometres to reach the hospital his son was referred to on BJP’s Viswashghat Divas.

Manoj Kumar (35) was having his usual morning tea on Tuesday when his five-year-old son Suraj Kumar fell off the roof, hurting his leg. He ran with his son to the Sadar hospital, from where he was referred to Patna Medical College and Hospital.

“I was prepared for the worse in Patna because in Samastipur I had to wait for more than half-an-hour to find vehicles that could drop me to the Sadar hospital,” said Kumar.

“After reaching the Sadar hospital, I was referred to Patna immediately because doctors feared Suraj had a fractured bone,” Kumar said.

He took the next train to the state capital and after travelling more than 110km he landed in the soup again.

“After reaching Patna in the afternoon, we had to wait for an autorickshaw for more than 20 minutes. One autorickshaw, however, agreed to take us to Gandhi Maidan. I paid the driver the normal Rs 9 fare,” added the father.

However, on reaching Gandhi Maidan, Kumar could not find a single vehicle that could help him cover the last lap to the hospital.

“Suraj’s condition was deteriorating. He was crying in pain. I had no choice but to accept the demand of a rickshaw puller, who asked Rs 60 to take me and my son to the health hub, which was just a 1.5-km ride,” said Manoj, a daily wager, who has a family of five to feed. On normal days, a rickshaw usually charges Rs 10 on the similar route. (See graphic)

However, the hassled father could finally admit his son to the hospital, who, at the time of filing the report was undergoing treatment at the state’s premier health hub.

“My son is better now. Had it not been a bandh day, I would have saved at least Rs 40 on the travel expenses and my son would have been saved from the agony,” said Manoj.

It was not only Manoj who had paid through his nose on a protest day. Hundreds of ailing people who had travelled to Patna for treatment went through the same ordeal.

Ramadhar Mehto, a resident of Gambhirpur in Nalanda, who reached the PMCH for his brother Parvesh Mehto’s treatment on Tuesday, said: “My brother met with an accident on Monday. Doctors at a primary health centre in my village expressed inability to treat him terming the case very serious. They referred us to the PMCH. When we reached Patna Junction around 1pm every autorickshaw was packed. We hired a rickshaw for Rs 120 from Patna station to PMCH.”

Mehto earns Rs 120 from daily work and has a family of three.