UP govt makes Aadhaar a must for patients to get 

ambulance

Harveer Dabas

Bijnor:





The Uttar Pradesh government has made Aadhaar card mandatory for anyone wanting to avail its free ambulance service. Now, if a patient calls an ambulance to his home, his relative or he will have to produce their Aadhaar card. According to officials, this is being done to clamp down on anomalies in ambulance trips, including duration and distance, which have occurred. The recording of Aadhaar numbers of patients will help reduce fraudulent use of the vehicles. However, with large numbers of people, particularly in rural areas, still without Aadhaar cards, residents are expected to face considerable problems.Health department officials pointed out that ambulance services provided by the government had several loopholes and flaws. “Drivers sometimes make fake trips and write fraudulent details of patients to siphon off money for fuel. Even the drivers make fake calls themselves to make the trips,'' said the officials.
Bijnor CMO Suhveer Singh said, “There are total of 53 ambulances, including those which can be called by dialling 102 and 108, in the district. `Dial 102' ambulances are reserved for pregnant women, while other patients can dial 108 for an ambulance.No documents were required from the patient to avail the services earlier. Now the state government has instructed us that whenever anyone calls for an ambulance, his Aadhaar card must be produced.“
Singh added, “The government has not declared the exact date to make Aadhaar card compulsory . For the time being, if a patient's condition is serious and he has no Aadhaar card, he can be carried to hospital. But soon the card is set to be compulsory for all patients.“