BJP memorandum to LG against privatising ambulance serive in Delhi

New Delhi, Feb 19 (UNI) Protesting against the proposed move by the Delhi Government to privatise ambulance services in Delhi, the state Bharatiya Janta Party today handed over a memorandum in this regard to Lt Governor Tejender Khanna.

A delegation of BJP MLAs today met the Lt Governor under the leadership of Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Legislative Assembly Jagdish Mukhi and submitted to him a memorandum protesting the state Government's decision to hand over ambulance services to a Hyderabad-based private institution EMRI.

The delegation demanded that instead of handing over the ambulance services to a private institution, the CATs should be continued to run the services.

''The CATs is the only services which is being run by the Government successfully for the last 17 years. On the one hand the number of ambulances under CATs services is being increased by 140 in the year 2008-09, on the other hand, for the personal interest of a few persons, all of a sudden preparations are being made to hand over the CATs services to EMRI, a private institution which has hardly two years experience in the field, ''Dr Mukhi told reporters here after handing over the memorandum to the Lt Governer.

''Moreover, the EMRI has failed to even provided ambulance services to the Hyderabad city and to Andhra Pradesh,'' he added.

Dr Mukhi said the Lt Governor has assured them that the CATs ambulance services will not be handed over to a private institution.

The BJP leader said it has been brought to his notice that the EMRI had put a condition to the Government to provide a control room. It has also demanded infrastructural facility, including 20 acre land in South Delhi to provide ambulance in the whole of the city, to provide headquarters and building for its training centre and bear the total expenditure incurred on training of employees.

''In this way, the Government will have to cough up almost Rs 500 crore to the EMRI. The company will invest nothing for the whole set up. It seems the entire amount shall be spent for the luxury of the company,'' Dr Mukhi said.

The BJP delegation from the Lt Governer that to save Delhiites from being hurt, a little amount be spent by the Government to strengthen and modernise existing CAT services instead of creating a new company with the taxes paid by Delhiites from their hard earnings.

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