Airport apathy killed my father: Lalji’s son

HYDERABAD: Four days after scientist and pioneer of DNA fingerprinting, Lalji Singh, died of heart attack in Varanasi, his son Abhishek Singh said his father's life could have been saved if airport authorities and Indigo Airlines took cognizance of his medical condition and reacted appropriately.
“There were serious lapses or my father’s life would have been saved,” Abhishek Singh told TOI on Thursday.He said he took time to react as he had to complete formalities after his father's death. Singh works for a private company in Hyderabad.
Former director of Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Lalji Singh, had gone to his village Kalwari in Uttar Pradesh.
Abhishek Singh said, there was no doctor at the airport or ambulance available to rush him to hospital. The 70-year-old scientist and former vice-chancellor of Benaras Hindu University (BHU), was also not provided oxygen support and was taken to hospital in a private vehicle.
Giving a blow-by-blow account of negligence at various stages at airport, he said he would also lodge a police complaint. “A wheel-chair was provided much after my father collapsed. If this is how a noted scientist who served the country is treated, one can imagine what happens to ordinary people,” he said.
“My nephew who accompanied him to the airport had to physically lift my father on his shoulders and place him on a wheelchair. At least 10 crucial minutes were wasted as security personnel prevented him from leaving the airport without completing paperwork formalities,” he said.
Lalji Singh had gone to the wash room at 5.20 pm and when there was no sign of him, his nephew rushed in to find that he had collapsed. He was taken in a private car to Sunderlal Hospital at BHU, where he was declared dead. “The distance from airport to the hospital is 28 km. My father complained of breathlessness at the airport itself, but no oxygen support was provided,” said Abhishek Singh. He said he learnt that a doctor is not available at the airport on a Sunday. “Can't emergencies be expected on a Sunday? And this is the situation in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's constituency,” he said. Lalji Singh’s wife Amarawati Singh is in shock. “The ministry of civil aviation and Indigo airlines should offer an apology,” said Abhishek Singh.