Gujarat: Recovered from canal, decomposed body taken to hospital in garbage van; video goes viral
Mehsana (Guj), Dec 31: A video has gone viral showing a garbage collection van of a municipality in Gujarat's Mehsana district transporting a body to a local hospital for post-mortem.
After people raised objections, officials of the Kadi Municipality said the decision to send a garbage van to transport the body was taken by lower rank employees because the municipality does not have any mortuary van at present.
The incident occurred on December 29 after the body was recovered from a canal outside the city limits and since it was highly decomposed, nobody was ready to take it to the hospital, they said.
In the brief video shot at night by a person travelling in another vehicle, a garbage collection van of Kadi Municipality can be seen transporting the body from a place near Narmada canal to the Community Health Centre near Kadi town.
Chief Officer of Kadi Municipality, Sandip Patel, said the incident took place on Sunday night outside the limits of the civic body.
"Police recovered a decomposed dead body from Narmada canal passing from a village situated outside the limits of our civic body on December 29. When police officials asked our staff to send a mortuary van to help them in sending the body till CHC for post mortem, our staff told police that the van has recently been scrapped due to RTO rules," he said.
"But since the body was badly decomposed, no other vehicle owner expressed willingness to do the work. Thus, after repeated requests from the police to arrange any other vehicle to do the task, our lower rank staff, without asking senior officials, sent a garbage van. The van was totally empty and did not have any garbage in it," the officer said.
The municipality has already started the process to buy a new mortuary van, he said.
"यही है गुजरात मॉडल"
— Gandhinagar Congress Sevadal (@SevadalGN) December 31, 2024
कड़ी नगरपालिका में कचरा गाड़ी बनी शववाहिनी।
कड़ी के बावलू पुलिस स्टेशन क्षेत्र में नर्मदा नहर से मिला शव, पोस्टमॉर्टम के लिए कचरा गाड़ी में ले जाया गया।
तीन दशकों से सत्ता में रहने वाली सरकार के बाद भी अगर एक मृतक के लिए कचरा गाड़ी का उपयोग किया जाता है pic.twitter.com/rojV8U4qqb
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Parliament passes Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025
New Delhi (PTI): Parliament early Friday passed the contentious Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, after it was approved by the Rajya Sabha.
The Lok Sabha had on Thursday approved the Bill after over a 12-hour debate.
In Rajya Sabha, the Bill got 128 votes in its favour and 95 against after all the amendments moved by the opposition were rejected.
In the lower house, the bill was supported by 288 MPs while 232 voted against it.
Participating in a debate in the Rajya Sabha, Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the Bill was brought with a number of amendments based on suggestions given by various stakeholders.
"The Waqf Board is a statutory body. All government bodies should be secular," the minister said, explaining the inclusion of non-Muslims on the board.
He, however, said the number of non-Muslims has been restricted to only four out of 22.
Rijiju also alleged that the Congress and other opposition parties, and not the BJP, were trying to scare Muslims with the Waqf Bill.
"You (opposition) are pushing Muslims out of the mainstream," he added.
He said for 60 years, the Congress and others ruled the country, but did not do much for Muslims and the community continues to live in poverty.
"Muslims are poor, who is responsible? You (Congress) are. Modi is now leading the government to uplift them," the minister said.
According to the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, Waqf tribunals will be strengthened, a structured selection process will be maintained, and a tenure will be fixed to ensure efficient dispute resolution.
As per the Bill, while Waqf institutions' mandatory contribution to Waqf boards is reduced from 7 per cent to 5 per cent, Waqf institutions earning over Rs 1 lakh will undergo audits by state-sponsored auditors.
A centralised portal will automate Waqf property management, improving efficiency and transparency.
The Bill proposes that practising Muslims (for at least five years) can dedicate their property to the Waqf, restoring pre-2013 rules.
It stipulates that women must receive their inheritance before the Waqf declaration, with special provisions for widows, divorced women and orphans.
The Bill proposes that an officer above the rank of collector investigate government properties claimed as Waqf.
It also proposes that non-Muslim members be included in the central and state Waqf boards for inclusivity.
