Vet ambulances to ferry humans too? GVK-EMRI says tender process flawed

BENGALURU: The GVK-EMRI services providing 108 ambulanceservices in Karnataka since 14 years, has claimed that the tender process for onboarding companies which provide veterinary medical ambulance services, lacks transparency. The ambulance service for animals was launched under the ‘Pashu Sanjeevani’ scheme by the central government in 2020. Tenders for outsourcing services were rolled out in May last year.

Sources from GVK-EMRI claimed that after the tender was rolled out in May, another was rolled out in December 2022. They said the criteria for selecting companies had changed, and service providers running regular ambulances (for humans) were also allowed to participate.

Sources said this change in criteria can cause a compromise in the quality of service to be provided by the companies. The whole tender process lacks transparency in terms of communication, they added. The bidders were not provided details of other companies for a fair deal. Transparent communication also helps ensure that the quality of service remains intact, and issues can be highlighted prior to finalisation, they added.

Officials from the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services department denied the allegation that fair practices were not followed. “All details regarding the tender process are available on the website and can be accessed by anyone. Earlier, only a single bidder participated, due to which the tender was relaunched in December,” they said. The department is expecting to finalise tenders by March.

It was also brought to notice that such ambulance services were a fairly new initiative and with time, companies will be able to build relevant skills in the field. Hence, it was not necessary for other inexperienced companies in this sector to be denied participation.