By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Nov 7: The state government is yet to appoint a firm to operate emergency ambulance services in Meghalaya almost 18 months after issuing a closure notice to GVK EMRI.
During this period, the government has been managing the ambulance services without the department having any expertise in handling the operation.
The bidding process for appointing a new service provider for operating the 108 ambulances was undertaken last year. It came under the scanner as the bidders alleged a lack of transparency and the country’s top players operating ambulances were disqualified.
The bidding after tying up with Telecommunications Consultants India Limited to engage a new service provider was eventually called off.
The National Health Mission recently floated another tender inviting bids from interested firms to operate the service but it was again mired in controversy following allegations of favouritism. The issues raised by bidders were conflicts of interest between two bidders with both claiming the same experience. Apparently, both bidders submitted a certificate from CATS-Delhi as ambulance operators in the national capital.
This time, the bidders questioned the idea of allowing even radio taxis to participate in the bid. They also sought to know how some companies, operating as aggregators, were allowed to participate in the bidding.
The NHM has denied any illegalities in the ongoing tender while Health Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh chose to distance herself from the controversy while assuring that the best company would be selected to operate the services.
Reacting to the controversy, Meghalaya TMC vice-president, George B Lyngdoh said the process seems to have been crafted to ensure favouritism.
“The compromise is not only for a tender or a company but in life-saving emergency services. A simple task of tendering to engage a professional agency gets murky due to ill-intent and favouritism. This is unacceptable,” he said.
“The tender should be immediately scrapped and any company that has corrupt intent and backdoor pre-arrangements should not be allowed to participate,” Lyngdoh said.
The government can fool the people once, not all the time, he warned.
An experience certificate issued to a local firm after the tendering also stoked controversy. The firm was certified as having operated 61 ambulances as the local partner of GVK EMRI when the 108 service was managed with a fleet of 50 ambulances.
With NHM facing the heat, the health minister asked the bidders to be disciplined and have faith in the government while assuring them that the tendering committee would look into all the complaints and select the best firm to operate the services.