Jalpaiguri’s Saviour To Get Padmashree Award For Using Bike As Ambulance 

Jalpaiguri (WB): Ever since he watched his mother die after failing to go to a hospital in the absence of an ambulance, 52-year-old Karimul Haq in Jalpaiguri district's Malbazar sub-division has used his motorcycle to take patients to medical facilities.

A resident of Krantir village and a tea garden worker, his noble efforts have been rewarded by the Union government as he has been chosen for a Padmashree award this year, Malbazar bloc sub-divisional officer Jyotirmoy Tanti said. Pained by his mother's death 10 years ago, Karimul had resolved not to allow his fellow-villagers suffer the same ordeal and started transporting poor patients from his village and surrounding areas on his 'bike ambulance', as he named it.

Karimul said that he had received a phone call from the Union Home Ministry that he had been awarded this year's Padmashree. According to the SDO, at least 3,500 to 4,000 patients have benefitted from his 24-hour free service at his village and surrounding areas.