NAS branding for Odisha 108 Ambulance Service, says minister

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, July 12:

The Odisha government has taken steps to accord National Ambulance Services (NAS) branding to the 108 Ambulance services in the state as per the directive of the Centre, announced Health and Family Welfare minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak in the State Assembly here on Friday.

Replying to a question of Prafulla Majhi, he said out of a total of 742 ambulance vans in the state, 420 are presently engaged in 108 Ambulance service.

“These 420 ambulance vans have been purchased under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) at Rs 45.36 crore under the Central share and Rs 44.93 crore under the state share,” the minister added.

He, however, said that the state government had named the 108 free ambulance services as Odisha Emergency Medical Ambulance Services (OEMAS).

He said like Odisha, other states have also branded this service. While the Chhattisgarh government has named the service as Mahatari Express, the service is known as Samajwadi Seva in Uttar Pradesh, Swasthya Bahana Seva in Haryana, EMRI model in Andhra Pradesh and Mamata Bahana in Jharkhand, he told the House.