An NGO named ‘Earth’ filed a petition before the Supreme Court; it urged the need to issue directions to increase the ambulance services. Being that, an increase in ambulance services is essential to cater to the surging of COVID-19 positive cases in the country. In effect, the petition sought the directions to the central and state governments of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Delhi; to invoke its power under Section 63 and 65 of the Disaster Management Act.
Contentions by the Petitioner
The Petitioner contended that there is an acute shortage of ambulances in the entire country. That there is a lot of mismanagement of ambulances. Thereafter, the petitioner emphasized the need for a centralized mechanism to increase the number of ambulances; by converting public transportation into ambulances. Moreover, the petitioner urged to bring all the Ambulance Services under one roof and ensure its accessibility to the common man.
Furthermore, the petitioner highlighted the exorbitant rates charged by the available ambulance service providers; in the name of covering the cost of PPE’s which highly essential to be worn by every healthcare worker. Thus, the petitioner pleads the court to direct the governments to perform functions in connection with the mitigation of the disaster and to fix the rates of the ambulance services.
