In a case of shocking negligence, an accident victim with a fractured leg lay in a Jharkhand hospital without treatment for two days as police searched for his relatives in Bihar so an operation could be performed, evoking sharp reprimand from Chief Minister.

The victim, who was admitted to Koderma hospital a fortnight ago, was shifted to the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) on January 14 following the CM's intervention, and is likely to undergo an operation on January 18, an official said. "Sir, patient is stable, suffering from closed fracture of left femur, undergoing investigations. If all is confirmed normal, operation (internal immobilisation like nailing or plating) expected on January 18. The civil surgeon is monitoring the case closely," Ranchi Deputy Commissioner, wrote to the CM on January 15.

The top district official's response came after the CM, in a touching gesture, enquired about the condition of the 60 -year-old patient and directed the hospital to take adequate care of him. He also asked the Deputy Commissioner to arrange for the victim's travel to his home in Ekangar Sarai of Bihar's Nalanda district after treatment. Instead of treating the victim, the Koderma Sadar hospital authorities allegedly asked police, apparently because it was a medico-legal case, to search for his family members. It took the Koderma police two days to find a relative, a nephew of the victime, who came and began staying with him.

The victim's family claimed he was not given any treatment during this period. His nephew narrated the incident to JMM workers in Koderma, who conveyed it to the CM, leading to his intervention in the matter. Taking a strong exception to the conduct of the hospital management, the CM lamented the officials approach towards duty and issued instruction to change it. "This attitude has been there for last few years. Instead of taking the responsibility to solve the problem - every officer wants to shift it. This is really sad, but the situation will change now. This attitude will no longer be tolerated," the CM said in a tweet.

The CM directed the management of all (government) hospitals to treat patients with sensitivity. "The police has the responsibility to locate relatives of unknown while the doctors should focus on the treatment of the patients," the CM said in his tweet.