With bidding to take over the 108 emergency ambulance service fiercely contested, Health and Family Welfare Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh today cautioned the various bidders on the need for discipline.
There have been allegations from certain bidders of irregularities in the tendering process, subsequently denied by the National Health Mission, Meghalaya. Yesterday, a news agency report carried by several newspapers, including Highland Post, stated that one bidder had won the contract, though this was clarified later on as just the hope of the company in question.
Speaking to reporters today, Lyngdoh said that she is not privy to information of a tender as the whole procedure is being supervised by the competent tender committee.
She reminded the interested parties that they are not here to serve a luxurious service but to ensure that people get the best emergency services.
“We are not going to be distracted by this competitive argument between companies and submissions and counter submissions will not solve the problem,” she said.
Assuring that all bidders will be evaluated on a fair playing field, the minister said that the thing that matters most is that, when a crisis occurs, the 108 service provider has to be able to resolve the crisis with their expertise.
“The Chief Minister, council of ministers, we all want our people to get the best ambulance service. We would like the ambulances in every block to have state of the art technology to help the ailing citizens,” Lyngdoh said.
Asking bidders to discipline themselves and wait for the selection procedure to be completed, she said that the bidders instead of going to the media should complain to the tender committee. She maintained that all the complaints received so far have been sent to the relevant authority for evaluation.
