VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy formally flagged off 146 new 108 ambulances at the Camp Office on Monday. Before flagging them off, he inspected the medical equipment and facilities inside the ambulances.
The government has procured new ambulances to replace the old ones, which covered more than 2,50,000 km and have been undergoing frequent repairs, at a cost of Rs 34.79 crore (including equipment). Of the total 146, 14 have been allocated for Nellore, 13 for Nandyal, 11 for Vizianagaram, eight each for Annamayya and Chittoor, seven each for Palnadu, Kadapa, Sri Sathya Sai, Tirupati and Kurnool, six for NTR, five for Anantapur, four each for Anakapalle, Eluru, Srikakulam and Bapatla, three each for Kakinada and Krishna, two each for Visakhapatnam, Konaseema, West Godavari and Parvathipuram-Manyam, and one each for East Godavari and Guntur districts.
According to officials, the government has spent a sum of Rs 135.05 crore for capital expenditure from 2020-2023 and Rs 172.68 crore for maintenance each year. As many as 3,745 people are engaged in extending ambulance services with 311 emergency response centre staff.
Health Minister Vidadala Rajini, Women and Child Welfare Minister KV Ushasri Charan, Special Chief Secretary (Medical and Health) MT Krishna Babu and senior officials were also present.