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From
Tehelka Magazine, Vol 9, Issue 10, Dated 10 Mar 2012 |
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EXCLUSIVE
The New Ambulance Chasers
With politicians vying to bag ambulance service contracts, the losers seem to be the states and poor patients, says Sai Manish
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Out of service Patients are ferried in carts during a strike by ambulance workers
Photos: Aftab Alam Siddiqui |
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THE OBJECTIVE is noble: to save lives in rural areas by mobilising a fleet of ambulances. The route taken, partnership with the private sector, sounds good on paper but is being subverted by political interests determined to corner a big part of the lucrative service. Considering the tactics adopted by each to scuttle the other, policymakers need to do a reality check on the operation. Especially as expenditure on the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) is proposed to be doubled to 2.5 percent of India’s GDP.
In Bihar, Jain Video on Wheels (VoW), owned by Dr JK Jain, national in-charge of BJP Minority Morcha, bagged contracts to run Basic Life Services (BLS) ambulances in all the 38 districts in September 2011. Two months later, the award of the contract was challenged by Ziqitza Healthcare, which has Ravi Krishna, son of Union Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi, and Karthi Chidambaram, the son of Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, as full-time directors on its board.
Ambulances are procured by the state with partial funding from the Centre under NRHM. These are then handed over to private firms to run and maintain for the period of the contract, with each firm charging patients for the service and maintaining profitability through the ‘cross-subsidisation’ model (charging rich patients more than poor patients). In Bihar, the contract for running 504 ambulances is estimated to be worth Rs 300-Rs 500 crore.
Bidders need to have “at least one year’s experience in running and maintaining BLS and emergency response ambulances”. Jain’s company lacked any such experience, although it operated mobile checkup vans in 11 districts of Uttarakhand. To circumvent this, the firm showed that it was bidding jointly with St John’s Ambulance, Tamil Nadu, an integral part of the Indian Red Cross Society (IRCS).
However, the IRCS says it has no clue how its name was used to win the Bihar contract. IRCS Director Manish Chaudhary says, “St John’s Ambulance (India) has not entered into any agreement with any private company to participate in the running of emergency medical service or life support ambulances in any state in India.”
Documents show that Jain VoW struck a secret deal with a man named B Ravichandran, who runs a first aid centre for St John’s Ambulance, Tamil Nadu, at Rangarajapuram, Chennai. The deal was signed between Jain VoW Vice-President Atul Prakash Nigam and Ravichandran, whose jurisdiction was confined to a 5 km radius. But Jain VoW claimed in the bid document that its partner was operating a fleet of 50 ambulances in Chennai.
“I’m being victimised,” says Ravichandran. “We don’t operate any ambulance, I just help patients by getting them in touch with local private ambulances.” However, joint bid documents signed by Ravichandran and Jain VoW claim precisely the opposite. Secondly, since every ambulance provider needs to have an emergency number, Jain VoW mentioned one in its bids — and this turns out to be a BSNL landline registered in the name of an old man staying in Kodambakkam, Chennai.
Jain VoW also twisted facts by mentioning St John’s Ambulance as a society registered under the Societies Act. But this part of the IRCS came into existence by an Act of Parliament (Act XV of 1920, last amended in 1992). It is reliably learnt that the Tamil Nadu Governor K Rosaiah has asked St John’s Ambulance to “take action as per legal advice”.
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The BJP is trying to cover up its own scam by targeting the Congress, says Vayalar Ravi’s son Krishna |
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However, allegations of political pressure being applied to win this contract are denied by Bihar Health Society Executive Director Sanjay Kumar. He attributes the controversy to the designs of aggrieved parties who lost the contract. “Ambulance services in Bihar are the best in the country and all these are baseless reports,” he says. Interestingly, the state health minister is Ashwini Kumar Choubey of the BJP.
Faced with this embarrassing scam, the BJP asked Kirit Somaiya, head of its ‘sting wing’ — the Scam Expose Committee — to mount a defence. He came up with counter-allegations, claiming that Ziqitza Healthcare was manipulating ambulance trip sheets in Rajasthan and claiming excess payments.
The BJP has alleged that Karthi, a friend of the company founders, called up the Rajasthan Governor’s office to pressure it to give Ziqitza the contract. Karthi was in London at the time of going to press and was unavailable for comment. While Krishna is actively involved in running Ziqitza’s ambulance operations and owns close to 6,000 shares in the company, Karthi does not have a stake. One of the directors vouched for Karthi, “I can put my life and integrity to say that Karthi has no financial stake in the firm. It’s just school friendship.”
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Help on wheels Nitish Kumar flags off the 108 ambulance service in Patna |
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In trying to rake muck in this issue, the BJP has ended up wounding its own ally, Nitish Kumar. Because the ambulance service in Bihar, available to any member of the public dialling 108, has been run by Ziqitza since 2009, and its track record has not been good. Repeated strikes by workers have led to half of Bihar’s districts such as Jamui, Madhubani, Jahanabad and Vaishali being deprived of this critical service. Ziqitza has also been running the 108 service in Punjab and Kerala.
Krishna, when asked to explain his position, says, “Our services have run into trouble in two states, Bihar and Rajasthan. The main cause has been the gaps in payment, usually given by the Chief Magistrate. For us, fuel is the main priority. Salaries, ranging from Rs 5,000-Rs 10,000, are the second priority. If you look at our performance in Kerala and Punjab, where payments have not been an issue, there have been no problems at all.”
He alleges that the BJP is trying to cover up its own scam by training its guns on the Congress. Somaiya’s conclusions, he says, were based on the reading of one month’s trip sheet in which lower-level ambulance staff had made errors in noting the time and name of patient.
One of the biggest investors in Ziqitza is US-based private equity firm Acumen Fund and America’s biggest ambulance provider Emergency Medical Services Corporation. Others are IDFC Foundation, HDFC, apart from a host of small investors who pumped in a few lakhs. There is no doubt that the success of this scheme under public-private partnership would greatly help the public, rich or poor, especially in rural areas, where swift transport is not available. And it is politicians who have to make it work, instead of cashing in.
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‘I’ve never used political influence to bag contracts’
JAIN VIDEO on Wheels owner and BJP Minority Morcha national in-charge Dr JK Jain tells Sai Manish that his firm won the Bihar ambulance contract in a fair manner.
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DR JK Jain BJP Minority Morcha Leader |
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There are allegations that your company manipulated bidding.
Anyone can apply for a tender and the entire bidding was transparent.
Did you use your political influence to bag the contract when Jain VoW was ineligible?
I’ve never done that in my life and never will. I’ve never met a single bureaucrat from Bihar nor have I tried to ever influence a tender.
There are allegations that some bid documents were fudged.
I’m not aware of this as I’m not involved in the day-to-day work of my business. We are a group of hardworking people. We will never break laws but compete on our merit. We are fighting the case in court and I’m sure we will win.
Is the Congress trying to fix you?
Karthi Chidambaram has the audacity to call up the Governor and ask him to settle things in favour of his company. My sons are hardworking. Not like those who shamelessly use their powerful father’s name to get everything done. |
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Sai Manish is a Correspondent with Tehelka.
sai.manish@tehelka.com
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