Former Chief Minister and Leader of the Opposition Babulal Marandi has alleged serious irregularities in the state’s air ambulance service following the recent crash in Jharkhand and demanded that the government lodge an FIR against the operating company.
The demand comes after all seven people on board a medical evacuation flight were killed when an air ambulance crashed in Chatra district on Monday evening, shortly after taking off from Ranchi for Delhi.
Marandi claimed that the air ambulance scheme, promoted as a flagship initiative of Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s government, is now under a cloud after the tragic accident.
He termed the chartered air ambulance service “a major scam” and called for a comprehensive and impartial investigation.
Raising specific questions, Marandi alleged that the service provider initially declined to offer an aircraft, citing a 65 per cent burn injury case and the policy of providing subsidy only up to 30 per cent burn injuries.
However, he said, the same patient was later flown to Delhi after the fare was revised to Rs 8 lakh instead of Rs 5 lakh.
“If air travel is unsafe for patients with more than 30 per cent burns, how was permission granted to transport the same patient at a higher cost?” Marandi questioned.
He demanded to know whether the 30 per cent cap on subsidy was based on expert medical opinion and sought a transparent review of the fares charged from beneficiaries so far.
He also urged the government to blacklist the company if wrongdoing is established and examine whether poor patients are being denied subsidised services on technical grounds while being charged higher rates privately.
Marandi further alleged that since its launch on April 28, 2023, the “Hawa Hawai” air ambulance service has benefited barely a dozen individuals, including four ministers, despite a budgetary allocation of Rs 10 crore this year.
The crashed aircraft, reportedly 39 years old, had received a fitness certificate on January 21, valid for one year. It was not equipped with cockpit voice recorders (CVR) or flight data recorders (FDR), as such equipment is not mandatory for aircraft below 5,700 kg maximum take-off weight.
The state government has yet to issue a detailed response to the allegations.
Also read: AAIB probes Jharkhand crash; Aircraft had no black box
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