In the past twenty-six days, the Shinde family has borrowed lakhs of rupees from friends and relatives to foot the bills of a private hospital in South Mumbai where Surendra Shinde, a 59-year-old cancer and accident survivor, is recuperating. Surendra, a resident of Goregaon East, needs to undergo surgery on an emergency basis on November 15 to prevent the spread of infection from his recently amputated leg. The family is now contemplating mortgaging their house to raise funds.

Their plight brings to the fore an important question: Who pays the immediate medical expenses of the victim of an accident involving public transport?
Surendra’s brother, Santosh Shinde, 53, a child rights activist who was recently discharged from the hospital after a heart attack, said, “Surendra had taken up a job in  Andheri after his retirement on October 1, and received '30,000 per month with which he supported his daughter, who is pursuing higher education, and his wife. On October 18, as part of a job assignment, he had been to a cooperative society in Sewri and was on his way to visit another one in Colaba.”