The Karnataka government will revoke the memorandum of understanding signed with EMRI Green Health Services to handle the command control centre of '108' ambulance services.
Credit: DH File Photo
Bengaluru: The Health Department is officially taking over the command and control centre of Karnataka’s “108” ambulance services.
While the government’s decision was announced in this year’s budget, in a bid to strengthen the functioning of this free state-wide emergency service ‘Arogya Kavacha’, a government order to this effect was issued on June 10.
The MoU signed with EMRI Green Health Services to handle the command control centre will be revoked and and responsibility handed over entirely to the health department. The department will manage the existing fleet of 715 ambulances using the 112 National Government Emergency Response Support System (NG ERSS) software at the state-level and decentralise the ambulance services by handing over management to district health officers (DHOs) via district control centres.
For this, the department must submit a proposal to obtain more manpower to operationalise this project, sign an MoU with the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) Thiruvananthapuram, to manage both the 108 Arogya Kavacha and 104 Arogya Sahayavani (helpline) through the central command and control centre for a period of five years, and file a separate proposal for exemption from the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement Act, 1999.
Going forward, the department will also come up with a detailed action plan and obtain technical and administrative approvals from the concerned authorities.
The funds allocated for 2025-26 must be used for this project, read the order.
This move is expected to significantly enhance the efficiency of the “108” ambulance service while saving nearly Rs 250 crore for the state exchequer, wrote state health minister Dinesh Gundu Rao in a post on X.
He noted that ambulance drivers and nursing staff will be recruited on an outsourced basis at the district level. “We are beginning this transition in Chamarajanagar district, with phased implementation across all districts to follow,” he wrote.
Beyond this, the state also plans to integrate over 1,000 additional state-owned ambulances under the command centre.