EMINENT people from Kerala have urged the government to honor the two nurses who lost their lives in trying to rescue patients from the fire that ravaged the Annexe-I block of the AMRI Hospital in Kolkata.
Former Supreme Court judge K.T. Thomas said the two nurses Remya Rajan and P K Vineetha who saved eight patients while they themselves died of suffocation richly deserved recognition for their acts of ultimate sacrifice.
“Although they could have escaped after savings the lives of one or two of their patients, they had instead chosen to ensure the safety of all who had depended upon them. These brave souls are worthy of any posthumous gallantry awards that acknowledge their unbound commitment to mankind and their profession,” he was quoted as saying in The Hindu.
Neurologist and former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Kerala Dr. B. Ekbal shared the same views. “In the context of nurses being harassed and grossly underpaid all over India, it is their noble gesture and this calls for proper recognition at the national level. They should be bestowed with gallantry awards at the earliest.”
Earlier on Sunday, the bodies of Remya and Vineetha were sent to their home state Kerala.
Their bodies were brought to the St Thomas Syro-Malabar Catholic Church in the morning. Over a hundred colleagues and friends paid their last respects to the nurses. The nurses had been in Kolkata for the last four months. They earlier worked in a Hyderabad hospital.
Family members of both the nurses had come to Kolkata on Saturday to take back their bodies.
In the worst fire tragedy in any hospital in India, 93 patients and staffers were killed when a blaze started in the basement of the annexe building of the city hospital early Friday and quickly spread, trapping hundreds of people.
Parish priest of the church Fr Joshy Myenparambil said Remya and Vineetha were involved in the youth ministry programs and had many friends in the church. They had attended the last social gathering we organised on November 12.
After the memorial service, the bodies were escorted to the airport by members of the Kolkata Malayalee Association.
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