Plan to hire ambulances gets lukewarm response from private players

Arranging ambulances for the Commonwealth Games has become a veritable wild goose chase for the Delhi government.

Arranging ambulances for the Commonwealth Games has become a veritable wild goose chase for the Delhi government. After the failure of the joint venture with Fortis and later an attempt to directly purchase ambulances,the proposal to hire ambulances from private parties fell through this week.

According to sources,the proposal failed to generate interest among private parties. Only a single bidder came forward,but failed to qualify the governments specifications. We had anticipated more companies will take part in the tender bidding process. The one company that came forward put forth several pre-conditions,which were unacceptable to the government. In any case,we cannot award a contract on a single tender, said Diwan Chand,Special Secretary of the Delhi Health department.

With the mega sporting event less than three months away,the Health department is now frantically trying to procure ambulances.

After initially deciding to roll out a fleet of 150 ambulances in a joint venture with Fortis,the Delhi Health department went back on the proposal,choosing instead to buy a few ambulances and rent the rest from private hospitals. The Health department then decided to purchase 30 new Basic Life Support ambulances from its own budget,which also failed after the first pre-bid meeting.

It is ridiculous that the government is running helter skelter in the eleventh hour. The Health department seems to be making these decisions on personal whim,instead of keeping the public interest as the priority, said a senior official in Delhi Secretariat.

According to initial plans,of the 150 ambulances,141 will be basic life support and nine for advanced life support. Besides,there will be 20 first-responder (two-wheeler) vehicles to reach the victim within 15-20 minutes of receiving the call for help.

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