Guwahati: Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Thursday awarded a woman auto-rickshaw driver who had volunteered to drop a recovered Covid-19 patient.
The ambulance of the state-run Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Science in Imphal, where the patient was treated, had refused to take her home as she hailed from another district, a release by the department of information and public relations stated. This is where the auto-rickshaw driver stepped in and she undertook an eight hours long journey covering 140 km to Kamjong in the intervening night of May 31- June 1.
As a gesture of appreciation, Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh handed over a cash reward of 1,10, 000 to Oinam. "Glad to honour and hand over a cash reward of Rs.1,10,000 to Smt Laibi Oinam, a auto driver from Pangei who took the trouble to take the discharged girl from JNIMS covering 8 hours journey to Kamjong on midnight of May 31. She truly exemplifies hard work and "service above self", Biren tweeted.
During the felicitation ceremony, MLAs L Surindro (Yasikul), Th Satyabarta (Yaiskul) and H Dingo (Sekmai) were also present.
It is pertinent to mention here that Laibi Oinam, who hails from Pangei, is a mother of two sons and the sole breadwinner of her family.
A documentary based on her life entitled "Auto Driver" had won many accolades including the best social issue film in the non-feature category at the 63rd National Film Awards in 2015 and Best Short Documentary in the Audience Choice category at the 2017 Women's Voices Now Film Festival.