RANCHI: Former Chief Minister and Leader of the Opposition Babulal Marandi alleged large-scale irregularities in the state’s air-ambulance service and urged the Jharkhand government to register an FIR against the company operating the service.
All seven people on board a medical evacuation flight were killed after an air ambulance crashed in Jharkhand’s Chatra district on Monday evening, minutes after taking off from Ranchi for Delhi.
He also called for a thorough investigation into the circumstances under which the firm allegedly declined to provide an aircraft, citing a 65 per cent burn case, yet proceeded with the same aircraft, charging Rs 8 lakh for the evacuation.
According to Marandi, the air ambulance service was presented as a much-hyped scheme of the Hemant government, but the recent tragic air accident has raised serious questions about its functioning.
Marandi claimed that the chartered air ambulance service is a major scam in itself.
“If the Chief Minister has even a little human compassion, he should immediately file an FIR against the air ambulance company and investigate -- when it refused to provide the plane on the grounds of a 65% burn case, then how did it accept Rs 8 lakh for it? If the needy are being denied service based on such conditions and excuses, this is a very serious matter,” said Marandi.
The government should conduct an impartial investigation into the role of the concerned company, blacklist it if necessary and also conduct a transparent review of the fares charged from the people who have availed this service so far, he added.
Notably, the ambulance service provider reportedly refused to provide government subsidy, citing the patient's burn injury as exceeding 30%.
Later, they agreed to transport the same patient to Delhi after the fare was fixed at Rs 8 lakh instead of 5 lakh rupees. Who knows how many such excuses are being used to fleece the poor every day, he said.
According to Marandi, the Chief Minister is stubbornly pocketing commissions, but the poor have to take out loans to cover the commissions.
He demanded that the Chief Minister should answer why the government has decided to provide subsidy only up to 30% burn injuries; was this decision involved clear opinion of an expert doctor, he said “And if air travel is unsafe for burn injuries of more than 30%, then how was consent given to transport the same patient at a higher cost?” questioned Marandi.
Marandi further added that he was also informed that barely a dozen people have benefited from the ‘Hawa Hawai’ air ambulance service, which has been operational since April 28, 2023, and that includes four ministers.
And yet, Rs 10 crore has been allocated for it in the budget this time, he said. Notably, the aircraft -- Beechcraft King Air BE9L being operated by Redbird Airways Pvt Ltd., crashed in Jharkhand’s Chatra on Monday, leaving all seven people onboard dead.
The aircraft was a 39-year-old aircraft and was given fitness certificate on January 21 this year which was valid for one year. In an alarming revelation, the aircraft was not equipped with cockpit voice recorders (CVR) or flight data recorders (FDR), as these are not mandatory for aircraft below 5,700 kg maximum take-off weight.
