Sri Vijaya Puram, March 12: Shri Bishnu Pada Ray, Hon’ble Member of Parliament from Andaman & Nicobar Islands, has made an urgent appeal to the Hon’ble Prime Minister, Home Minister, Health and Family Welfare and Minister of Civil Aviation of Govt. of India for urgent intervention in addressing the healthcare deficiencies and medical evacuation challenges in A&N Islands.

In his letter, Shri Ray, MP has categorically stated that the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, due to their remote geographical location, lack adequate healthcare infrastructure, particularly for critical medical cases such as brain haemorrhages, strokes, severe head injuries, spinal fractures, and other life-threatening conditions. The GB Pant Hospital, the only hospital in the Islands, is frequently forced to refer patients to mainland hospitals in Chennai, Kolkata, Vizag, and Delhi due to the absence of neurosurgeons and other specialists.

Despite this, no financial assistance is provided by the government for air stretcher or air ambulance services. Under the Ayushman Bharat Scheme (PM-JAY), only airfare for the patient and one attendant based on recommendation of the doctor who referred the patient, is covered, leaving families to bear the exorbitant cost of Rs. 3 to 4 lakh for stretcher evacuations.  Further, the availability of air stretcher services is brutally restricted due to the reluctance of airlines namely Air India, Air India Express, Indigo, Spice Jet, Akasa Air operating on the Port Blair-mainland routes. Many critically ill patients have lost their lives due to the reasons, airline delays in confirming stretcher bookings, sometimes up to 10 days, unreasonable conditions, such as requiring immediate booking confirmations within 20 minutes, unpredictable pricing for stretcher services, lack of government intervention to ensure timely medical evacuations.

Shir Ray, in his letter also emphasizes that for the past five years, repeated appeals by islanders have gone unheard, with no concrete steps taken by the government or the A&N Administration to provide financial or logistical support for critical patients. He also further stated that despite being in office for over eight years, the Lt. Governor of Andaman & Nicobar Islands has failed to improve the healthcare sector and take decisive action. Instead of finding solutions, the administration is merely recording patient death rates without any proactive measures.

Given the critical nature of this issue, Shri Bishnu Pada Ray urges the Hon’ble Prime Minister and other concerned Union Ministers to take immediate action and prevent the avoidable loss of innocent lives in the Andaman & Nicobar.  To address these issues, he suggested the following actions urgently.

1. a) An urgent meeting may be convened with all airlines operating on these routes, directing them not to deny or delay requests for emergency stretcher patients from Sri Vijayapuram (Port Blair) to mainland sectors (Chennai, Kolkata, Delhi, Vizag etc.) and fix a minimum uniform rate for the stretcher patient on all the airlines operating these routes including minimum rate for air ambulance.
2. b) Airlines must prioritize medical emergencies over regular passengers, as denying air stretcher services to critically ill patients are both an ethical violation and a threat to public health.
3. c) An appropriate financial assistance scheme (100% funded by the government/UT Administration) may be introduced urgently for stretcher patients and Air ambulance referred by government and private hospitals in Andaman & Nicobar Islands to ensure timely medical evacuation and prevent avoidable loss of life since the Ayushman Bharat Scheme (PM-JAY) does not provide any financial support/assistance for the stretcher patient/Air ambulance charges on emergency other than an airfare for patient and one attendant.
4. d) A Nodal Officer from the A&N Administration may be appointed to handle matters between airlines regarding stretcher/air ambulance services and to make necessary arrangements for the immediate transfer of critical patients from Sri Vijayapuram to the mainland, ensuring better coordination to facilitate patient