The wife of kidney patient Sumit Verma, who died on Tuesday after personnel deployed for the PM’s security delayed his entry to the emergency section of the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Research, on Wednesday received a letter of condolence from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The letter, delivered to the family by Ambala Deputy Commissioner Sameer Pal, was addressed to Isha Verma, and read, “I am writing to you to express my profound sense of sadness at the death of your husband Shri Sumit Verma yesterday. I understand that he could not get access to the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh in time because of the restrictions in place for my visit there. This is something I deeply regret.”

In his letter, the Prime Minister further asked the authorities to be more sensitive to the needs of common people during such visits. “I have issued instructions so that in future authorities are more sensitive to the concerns of the common man while imposing such restrictions for reasons of security,” he wrote.

Sumit, a resident of Ambala and a chronic kidney patient, died at PGI on Tuesday while the PM attended the convocation ceremony of the hospital. The family has alleged that their entry to the emergency section was delayed by almost one-and-a-half hour as they were not allowed access by security personnel. Sumit was declared “brought dead” when he finally reached the hospital. He was cremated on Wednesday.

With Sumit’s death, the family has an unemployed young widow and two small children — Saran (12) and Chirag (6) — and no source of income. Sumit worked at a jewellery shop and most of his earnings for the last one year were spent on his treatment, the family said.

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