JOIN USIntegrated ambulance service: Will re-issue tender in 15 days, Karnataka government tells HC
The state government on Friday informed the high court that it has decided to re-issue tender within the next 15 days for integrated ambulance service as no bids were received in response to the earlier tender notification.
The court was hearing a PIL filed by Bharat Punarutthana Trust seeking directions for setting up an ambulance control room in the state and also directions for installing GPS devices in ambulances.
A division bench headed by Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale said that it expects the state government to act as expeditiously as possible considering the urgency of the matter and said that the approval for tender can be granted without waiting for a period of 15 days. At the hearing, the bench perused the status report filed by the state government.
The report stated that there are 12,107 ambulance vehicles, including both government and private, in the state. It was further stated that upon verification, it was found that only 3,368 ambulances are fitted with GPS systems.
The bench suggested that the state government, as an additional effort, may share the landline numbers (special emergency response desk numbers) to all the hospitals, government and private, and seek a database from them about the ambulance drivers working under their respective establishments.
“The state may also fix some limits for seeking response from the hospitals. This exercise may facilitate the police department to have a data of numbers of ambulance drivers and it may also facilitate checking false calls or fake calls,” the bench said. The matter has been adjourned to January 11, 2023, enabling the state government to submit further compliance report.