After much delay and controversies surrounding the tendering process for selecting a new firm to operate the ‘108’ ambulance service, the State government today finally approved the new tender committee.
“This time we are going to do the tender right and we are going to take on board all line and key departments in the tender committee so that all of these lacunae that resulted post tender in the last two tenders that we called should not recur,” Health Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh told media persons here today.
She said, “Today I have approved the new tender committee and this time we should do this correctly.”
The State government had earlier cancelled the tendering process thrice for appointing a service provider for running the ‘108’ ambulance service in the State.
Earlier, experts and bidders wanted the government to evaluate the bids with a new high-powered committee comprising senior healthcare officials and domain experts instead of going for a fresh tender as it would be a waste of time.
Initially, the ambulance service in the State was operated by GVK EMRI and after a closure notice was issued to the firm, the government has been trying to appoint a new firm to operate the services. The National Health Mission is currently running the service.
Stating that while the NHM is currently running the ‘108’ ambulance services and the employees are satisfied, Lyngdoh however said that NHM is not the correct body to run the service.
Lyngdoh also recalled that recently two workers of the ambulance service met with a serious accident and one of them has been certified as disabled but was not given post service benefits, social security or insurance.
“This cannot go on like this and I feel very bad for the workers. In fact we are zeroing down on what needs to be done for these workers who are now unable to go back to work. Had there been a functional company running the EMRI services these workers would have been benefited,” she said.
The minister further added, “I am engaging with the government to see what would be the best thing to do for these individuals. Worker’s rights are being violated because we are not a full functional agency to run the ambulance service.”
