TDP calls AP govt's COVID funeral expenses a lie, alleges ambulance staff fleeced Rs 85,000 from NRI

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) National General Secretary and MLC Nara Lokesh on Saturday slammed the YSRCP Government for not implementing its promise with respect to funeral expenses for COVID patients and leaving the common people to their fate.

Nara Lokesh referred to the anguish of an Australia-based NRI who was fleeced by ambulance staff while he was mourning the death of his father back home in Kurnool. Rs 85,000 was illegally collected towards funeral expenses.

In a statement here, the TDP leader asked the government to clarify what happened to its promise of providing Rs 15,000 for funeral expenses for bodies infected with the coronavirus. "Right from the beginning, the YSRCP regime was living by telling lies and committing betrayals. It was remaining totally insensitive to the woes and travails of the common people in the face of COVID threat," he said.

The TDP leader further said: "It may be recalled that K Kranthi Kiran, an NRI from Melbourne, put out a selfie video of how he was cheated. It all began after Kranthi Kiran's father fell sick in Kurnool a few days ago. The ambulance arrived to pick him up. But on the way to the hospital, the NRI's father passed away. Then, the ambulance staff began a high drama saying that the death was due to COVID-19."

"It was not clear whether the ambulance staff were competent enough to declare somebody as COVID-19 positive or whether they were allowed to conduct tests on their own within the vehicle. In this case, the staff told the NRI that it would not be possible to hand over the dead body since it was infected. They began bargaining for the funeral expenses. The ambulance staff member Jayaraj fixed the rates at Rs 75,000 for burial and Rs 85,000 for cremation," he added.

Lokesh further said that the NRI Kranthi Kiran had no choice since his family members back home were also intimidated by the ambulance staff.

"From Australia, the NRI paid Rs 85,000 to one Pattem Suresh Kumar. The payment slip was available with him. The NRI lamented that the ambulance staff had stooped to the level of misusing the COVID situation to cheat the people. He asked what happened to the free funeral services being extended by the Andhra Pradesh government," Lokesh said.

( With inputs from ANI )