At a time when private ambulance and hearse operators are fleecing money from families of Covid-19 patients, and bereaved relatives, social workers and a group of senior citizens in Dhanbad have been offering these vehicles at a minimal charge to such people in need of service.

Members of the Bengali Welfare Society, a social organisation engaged in a wide range of activities including blood and plasma donation, are offering hearse and ambulance to the needy persons at minimal cost by operating them at no profit or no loss basis.

“We were receiving as many as eight calls per day till about a week ago for ambulance and hearse service and have been able to provide it for all needy persons,” Sanjay Kumar Biswas, Secretary of Bengali Welfare Society, told The Telegraph Online on Tuesday.

Biswas said that they have made all necessary arrangements to maintain the driver’s as well as the patient’s safety but are not charging extra money for that as the organisation believes in social service and not money.

“We had procured the hearse way back in 2012 and since then are operating them on a no-profit and no-loss basis, only charging a minimal amount so that the vehicle maintenance cost and driver’s salary can be maintained,” he added.

Kanchan Dey, an executive member of another social organisation, Bangali Kalyan Samiti, a group of relatively young social workers, said they too have been providing such services amid the pandemic. “We had purchased the hearse at a cost of around Rs 3.5 lakhs during last year and never imagined that the vehicle would prove so useful for the needy people during one of the biggest humanitarian crises of our age.”

“We are sometimes also offering free service to people belonging to extremely economically backward sections of the society,” said Dey, adding that their members also had driven the vehicle from the hospital to the crematorium carrying the dead bodies when drivers did not show up.

“We have given a look of greenery to our hearse in such a manner so that it dispels the feeling of despair among the family members of patients or deceased persons,” said secretary of Bangali Kalayan Samiti Tanmoy gon.

Notably, besides these two organisations some other organisations like Bara Gurudwara of Dhanbad also operate the hearse.