The boat ambulance, which has been lying unused in Maharashtra’s Nandurbar district, will be soon functioning again. According to DNA, the state government has hired a team of doctors, paramedic staffs and ASHA workers who will be assigned one-week shifts on a rotation basis to keep the ambulance functional. The boat ambulance service was launched a few years ago to provide medical facilities to over 30 tribal villages in the Nandurbar district, which are not well connected by roads.
Chetan Salve, an activist with Narmada Bachao Andolan NGO told the leading daily, “Currently only one doctor is deployed in the ambulance. The other posts have been sanctioned on paper. We hope that other staff will be appointed soon. With only one doctor assigned with multiple charges, villagers are facing inconvenience.”
The boat ambulance, operating on a stretch of the Narmada river, had been anchored for a few months after the doctors appointed to serve on them quit. Dr Anup Kumar Yadav Commissioner (Health Services), Maharashtra, told DNA, “Functioning of the boat ambulance was shut due to lack of medical staff. We have made a proposal to deploy medical staff teams on a weekly rotation basis so that they will be easily available for the villagers during a medical emergency.” He further added that they have sanctioned a plan to give them a higher salary.