Tension prevails at Amarkanan rural hospital over the death of an Asha worker, protest over allegations of excessive workload

Fearless Bengali, Baankudah: A lot of excitement has arisen in Baankudah's Amarkanan Rural Hospital over the death of an ASHA worker. That ASHA worker died due to excess workload. Hundreds of ASHA workers in the area lodged a complaint and stopped the body from being taken out of the hospital. A large police force reached the spot to control the situation. Later, the police removed the dead body from the protesters and took it to the nearby Medical College and Hospital. According to local sources, the ASHA worker in charge of Gopinathpur area, Rampa Mandal, fell ill at home on Wednesday morning. Allegedly, he suffered from heart disease. When he was quickly taken to Amarkanan Rural Hospital, the doctors declared him dead. Apart from providing mother and child health related services to the area, recently ASHA workers have been given the responsibility of providing I-KYC related work. The protesting Asha workers alleged that due to the intense pressure of extra work, the physical condition of Rumpa Mandal had deteriorated. They demanded to immediately exempt ASHA workers from work related to Ayushman Yojanaar e-KYC. As the news of the death spread, hundreds of ASHA workers from the area rushed to Amarkanan Rural Hospital. Protest starts by stopping the car carrying dead body. After receiving the news, a huge police force of Ganga Jalghati police station reached the spot. When the police tried to take away the vehicle carrying the dead body, a situation of scuffle and scuffle broke out with the protesters, it is alleged. Later the police removed the protesters and took the dead body to the Medical College and Hospital. But the protests stopped after the dead body was removed. ASHA workers started protesting in front of the MOH office with the threat of not working until appropriate justice for the incident and their demands are met.After getting the news of the situation, the District Magistrate, the Chief Health Officer and the MLA of Badjoda reached the spot. The administration tries to normalize the situation by talking to the protesters. There was a long tension in Amarkanan Rural Hospital Chundbhav due to this incident.