NEW DELHI: The Centre has received “strong response” from different air service providers for regional connectivity soon after the DoNER Ministry announced the country’s first-ever air dispensary in the North East.
Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju has confirmed that the government has received a “strong response” to its second round of request for proposals for its Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS).
The North East is all set to get India’s first-ever air dispensary on a helicopter and the DoNER has already contributed Rs 25 crore as part of the initial funding, Minister Jitendra Singh had announced earlier.
Seventeen operators have submitted 141 proposals which cover 502 routes, including 161 in the priority areas of Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and eight states of the North East, Raju said.
Unveiled earlier this year, the RCS aims to improve regional connectivity in parts of India that have little or no aviation services through a system of cross-subsidisation.
During the first round, held earlier this year, the government awarded Rs 205 crore in subsidies to five operators, including Air India unit Alliance Air (India), Deccan Charters, Air Odisha, TruJet and SpiceJet to operate on 78 eligible routes.
The air dispensary proposal was put forward by the DoNER and has been accepted and is in the final stages of process in the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation. The services will start from Shillong and Imphal, Singh had said.
Giving an account of other new helicopter service plans for the North East, Singh said three twin-engine helicopters are planned to be placed for initial operation on six routes in the region around Imphal, Guwahati and Dibrugarh.
The DoNER Ministry had been exploring the idea of introducing a helicopter-based dispensary/OPD service in far-flung areas. The proposal is likely to take off by the beginning of 2018.
Both of these cities have premier postgraduate medical institutes from where specialist doctors, necessary equipment and paramedical staff would be able to move into the helicopter and hold a dispensary/OPD in different locations across the eight northeastern states.
On its way back, he said the same helicopter can also transport a sick patient to a city hospital.