VIJAYAWADA: The families of a 104 ambulance driver and a nurse, who were killed in a road accident in Bobbili of Vizianagaram district on 14 April, are set to receive a mere Rs 10 lakh each as against Rs 50 lakh each they would have got if the vehicle was insured. This is not an isolated case of vehicles having not been insured. Most of the 104 ambulances, rechristened Chandranna Sanchara Chikitsa and being managed by Piramal Swasthya Management and Research Institute (PSMRI), are not insured nor have they fitness certificates. In the absence of fitness certificates, the insurance company refused to renew insurance cover for ambulances.
Driver Silla Mohan, 45, and nurse Akula Santhoshi Kumari, 24, who was seven-month pregnant, lost their lives when the ambulance collided with a truck. The horrific accident left their families without a breadwinner. The hope of a reasonable provision for the next of the kin is lost because the PSMRI did not bother to renew the insurance for the ambulance. The company is also hardly concerned about the fitness of the vehicles.
The insurance is said to have expired long back but PSMRI did not renew it. Had the management done it, the families of Mohan and Santhoshini would have received Rs 50 lakh each. But now, they are promised Rs 10 lakh each and a job for one in the family two victims, that too after a long dispute with the PSMRI management.
Speaking to Express, Silla Johnny, younger brother of Mohan, said, "My brother worked as a 104 ambulance driver for over 10 years and used to get Rs 9,600 as monthly salary. He lived with his wife and our parents at Narsipuram. Every day by 8 am he would start from home and travel 25 km to reach the Bobbili, Primary Health Centre and ferry patients from nearby villages. He would return home between 7pm-8pm. But on that fateful day, he never returned."
"Initially, the PSMRI management offered to pay cremation expenses. But after realising the bad condition of the ambulance, his colleagues demanded that his family be paid the insurance amount. We were shocked to know that insurance expired long back and it was not renewed. So after a long fight, they accepted to pay us Rs 10 lakh and provide a job to Mohan's wife. However, it is not finalised yet."
Similarly, the family of Santhoshi, the staff nurse at the PHC, was also assured of similar relief and, in addition, three cents land. A Gowri Prasad, the husband of Santhoshi Kumari, is a car driver. His wife's death turned his life upside down.
Speaking to Express, Gowri Prasad said, "My wife was quite hardworking and very sincere in her duties. Everyday, she used to travel
22 km to reach the PHC. Even after an exhausting day, she would do all the household chores after returning from work and look after our 4-year-old daughter. Though the PSMRI promised to provide me a job as driver besides compensation, my wife's loss is hard to fill."
After this incident, many employees of 104 vehicles are demanding that the PSMRI maintain fitness of ambulances and renew their insurance cover.
In fact, the 104 ambulance service was launched in 2008 in united Andhra Pradesh in PPP mode and Health Management and Research Institute (HMRI) was entrusted with the task of managing it. However, in 2010, the State Government took over 104 ambulances. After the bifurcation, the State received 275 vehicles as its share and till 2016, it operated the service. In February 2016, the State Government renamed the service as Chandranna Sanchara Chikitsa and selected PSMRI as the service provider till March 2019. In fact, PSMRI is the new avatar of HMRI.
Coming to the fitness of the vehicles, almost all the 275 ambulances being run by PSMRI do have fitness certificate from the transport department. Due to the lack of fitness certificate, insurance providers refused to renew insurance. Despite this, the ambulances are being operated across the State since April 2016.
For operating each ambulance, the State Government pays Rs 2,43,802.97 every month to PSMRI. At this rate, PSMRI gets over Rs 6.84 crore per month for operating all the 275 ambulances. Since April 2016-2018, the State Government has spent over Rs 164. 20 crore on providing ambulance services in rural areas. Despite crores of rupees being paid by the government, PSMRI hardly cares to either insure ambulances or maintain them properly.
N Srinivas, a 104 driver from Kakinada, says, "The vehicles are in very bad condition. Sometime we feel embarrassed to carry patients in such poorly-maintained ambulances. Every now and then there comes a problem. In such a situation, we feel it right to suggest that patients seek the services of other ambulance providers and we also try to offer them discount. If they don't find any other ambulance, then we take the risk. The oxygen supply tubes are broken, the stretchers are in bad shape and the vehicle fitness is also very poor."
When Express contacted, State project officer of PSMRI Nitin said that at the time when these vehicles were handed to our company in April 2016 they were registered under the Commissioner of Family and Health Welfare department and also under Telangana RTA. "When the government handed the vehicles to us, the documents of some vehicles were not available so we had to apply for duplicate ones. As they were registered with Telangana RTA we had to follow certain procedure since the State was bifurcated and thus without them, we didn't get fitness certificates and insurance. As we are only service providers and when we went to transport authorities, they said that the vehicles were registered under Commissioner of Family and Health Welfare department, and they needed an official from that department for issuing documents. Recently, we wrote a letter to the department authorities and it is under process. We might get vehicle documents in the coming month and then we can apply for fitness certificates."
Graphics
Rs 2,43,802.97 per vehicle paid every month by State government
Rs 6.84 crore for all 275 vehicles every month
Rs 164. 20 crore paid by government for all 275 vehicles since April 2016-2018