Noted NGO Sulabh International on Saturday handed over a fixed deposit receipt of Rs 5 lakh to Dana Manjhi, a poor villager of Odisha who was forced to carry his wife's body for 10 km as the district hospital in Kalahandi refused to provide him an ambulance.
The NGO will also give Rs 10,000 every month to Manjhi for the education of his daughters, it said in a statement.
"A representative of Sulabh International visited Manjhi's house and handed over the fixed deposit slip of Rs 5 lakh and Rs 10,000 cash," it said.
According to Brindeshwar Pathak, the founder of Sulabh International, the NGO was ready to extend any other help if required.
Manjhi had told the hospital authorities that he could not afford to hire a vehicle to transport the body of his wife who died of tuberculosis, but they allegedly denied him a hearse.
National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and Odisha human rights panel issued notices to the hospital in Bhawanipatna over the undignified treatment meted out to the dead body.
The incident triggered a nationwide outcry after Manjhi, accompanied by his 12-year-old daughter, was seen walking with his wife's body on his shoulder.
An ambulance was arranged only after he had covered 10 km to take the body to his home in Melghara village, about 60 km from Bhawanipatna.
--IANS
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