GVK threatens to pull out of 108 emergency

HYDERABAD: After tiding over the crisis of wrapping up the services completely, the EMRI (108) ambulance services is heading for another crisis. The GVK Group on Wednesday allegedly shot a letter to the state government expressing its helplessness over running the emergency medical services unless the government clears the arrears amounting to a whopping `31.3 crore.
In the letter addressed to health minister DL Ravindra Reddy, the GVK Group management reportedly hinted that the government itself is violating the memorandum of understanding reached between them by not paying the arrears. Sources said the GVK Group insisted on payment of at least `10 cr before the weekend to ensure the 108 ambulances do not go off the roads. The GVKEMRI is not in a position to run the services due to financial constraints, the letter said.As per the agreement, the state government has to pay `7 crore to the GVKEMRI per month to run 800 ambulance services across the state. However, less than 400 ambulances are being operated in the state as most of them are under repair or need replacement. With the government reportedly failing to clear the arrears for the past few months, all these ambulances were taken off the roads causing much inconvenience to the public.