Bengaluru: Council Member Harish Kumar demands 104 helpline reopening | Azad Times

Bengaluru: MLC Harish Kumar raised the issue of 104 helpline, one of the State Government’s flagship schemes, being shut down and not even relaunched after a year of newspaper reports.

It has been learnt that the tender process for restarting the 104 helpline, one of the State Government’s flagship schemes, has been waiting for the Government’s nod for a few months now.

Among the few companies that participated in the tender process invited by the Health Department for the year 2022, the Health Department has decided to award the tender to Ashok Buildcon. But the tender process could not be finalised. Due to some technical reasons, the service has not been given a green signal to start. If the Government does not give permission for the project, the service is likely to come to a complete halt.

In 2021, Hyderabad-based Perumal Swasthya Management and Research Institute had bagged the contract to provide the 104 helpline service. The company had suspended its services in mid-February, alleging that the Government had not released funds as per the agreement even though the Government had released funds in a phased manner.

The helpline received over 20,000 calls every day. Moreover, 350 people lost their jobs due to the shutdown of the helpline. Arogyavani 104 seva is a sanjeevini of the poor who provide 24×7 service and Council Member Harish Kumar demanded that steps be taken to revive the helpline immediately so that the rural people who are deprived of hospital facilities can seek the advice of doctors.