At Government Mata Kaushalya Hospital, the district hospital in Patiala, the grief of losing a loved one is compounded by an additional ordeal: families are often left to fend for themselves to preserve the body, as the hospital’s mortuary has remained defunct since 2021.
Dr Goyal stated that hospital authorities had already reported the theft to the police. The situation becomes particularly distressing when a death occurs during the night or in the early hours, leaving already grieving families scrambling to make arrangements. Two mortuary freezers were stolen in 2024 after years of neglect at the hospital.
The 108 emergency ambulance service too does not transport bodies. The guidelines said hospitals with more than 100 beds should keep two vans, given their higher footfall and medico-legal cases. With no government mortuary vans available for the purpose, the responsibility of transporting the bodies falls on the bereaved families. Its services are meant for transporting patients to hospitals. Punjab human rights guidelines ignored In January this year, the Punjab Human Rights Commission (PHRC) wrote to the Patiala deputy commissioner asking every government and private hospital to maintain at least one functional mortuary van.
Emergency medical officers (EMOs) at Government Mata Kaushalya Hospital direct the kin of the deceased to shift the body to Government Rajindra Hospital, according to the documents accessed by HT. Jitender Singh Shunty, member, Punjab Human Rights Commission, said he would visit Government Mata Kaushalya Hospital soon and ensure that a functional mortuary is made available there within a week. He said the commission was taking a suo motu cognisance of the issue.
