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Journalism of Courage
Who said patients recovering in a hospital cannot vote? Thanks to the efforts made by a private hospital chain in Bengaluru and the city traffic police, convalescent patients were not just transported to the booth via a green corridor, they were given priority in voting. Says Yogananda N, who recently underwent a kidney transplant, “Just because I am in hospital doesn’t mean that I cannot exercise my right to vote. Doctors had cleared my status as stable, so I’ve cast my ballot with the hospital’s assistance.” All of them were screened by doctors for fitness worthiness.
For Jesu Kumar, an accident survivor, who took months to recover from severe traumatic brain injuries, facial and thigh distortions, spine and rib fracture and extensive urological damage, the elections were a reason to step outside and do something that meant much to him. “I had just a 10 per cent chance of survival. I was in the ICU for a long time. I feel full after a long time and as a conscious citizen, decided to vote,” he adds. Nishta Jain, a 27-year-old kidney transplant recipient, didn’t want her vote wasted. Having suffered from Lupus Nephritis, she was on dialysis for almost one-and-a-half years and had suffered from breathing difficulty because of water retention in her lungs. Since her follow-up consultation for creatinine evaluation coincided with voting day, she decided to take advantage of the hospital’s medical van to transport patients to the voting centre. Kulashekhar Ramanujan Chakravarty, who has been on haemodialysis since 2018 and who needs a lot of assistance to walk and travel, says, “Thanks to the special convoy, I could vote after a long time.”
The Manipal Hospitals group worked with the city authorities to set up the green corridor for 16 of its patients, aged between 36 and 85, to cast their vote hassle-free with authorities aligning arrangements with the state Election Commission and city traffic police. The patients included transplant survivors, an accident patient and those recuperating after GBS syndrome, lung and pancreatic cancer. A thorough health check-up was done and approval from their respective doctors was sought before the authorities decided to transport them to the booth. The hospital even rushed a medical support team to avoid any unnecessary mishaps.
Dr Sunil Karanth, Chairman, HOD, Critical Care Medicine, who managed the operations, says, “All the 16 patients, who were assisted by the hospital team to cast their votes, first underwent a screening process. We made sure there were nurses and all the necessary equipment in the vehicle to monitor each patient’s health condition. Although many patients expressed their interest to cast their votes, we could only permit the ones whose health conditions were stable. We had also arranged for wheelchairs, which were stationed 10 metres away from the booth, and facilitated quick voting so as not to stress them out. It is for the first time in India that any hospital has come up with such an initiative.”
These patients were taken to nine voting booths at Anekal, Rajaji Nagar, Sivaji Nagar, Sun City, Haralur, Malleshpalya, Chikkabanahalli, Dasarahalli and C V Raman Nagar.
