Madhya Pradesh’s PM (Prime Minister) Shri Air Ambulance Service launched in May 2024 has benefited 159 patients; 32 of them are either leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party or their friends or relatives.
Of the 159, only 13 have paid for the service -- those without an Ayushman card and being flown to a hospital outside the state have to pay for it according to the contours of the scheme -- including a BJP leader and his relatives/friends.
The scheme comes under the health department and health minister Rajendra Shukla said people haven’t paid for the service because the government sometimes pays on humanitarian grounds.
What air ambulance operator said
The service is provided by Flyola, a private company that offers on-demand custom flight solutions. It handles operations via a 24-hour non-scheduled facility at the Bhopal Airport State Hangar.
{{/usCountry}}The service is provided by Flyola, a private company that offers on-demand custom flight solutions. It handles operations via a 24-hour non-scheduled facility at the Bhopal Airport State Hangar.
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The company’s director corporate affairs, Monika Tiwari, said, “ We own 22 aircraft, and two of them -- a helicopter and a six-seater plane -- are reserved for air ambulance services. We get approval from the health department, which checks whether the beneficiary is an Ayushman cardholder or not. We airlift non-Ayushman cardholders only upon reference from the CM’s office or as special cases involving accidents. We are trying to save lives. Until May, we were getting approvals offline, but now we are getting them online. We are providing quick service to every patient.”
₹36 crore spent on air ambulance in 2 years
In all, the state has spent ₹36 crore on the service till July 7, according to commissioner of the health department S Dhanraju.
HT has reviewed documents on the scheme and spoken to 119 of the 159 beneficiaries.
At least 44% of the beneficiaries (70) were from the Rewa division — Rewa, Sidhi, Singrauli, Mauganj, Satna and Maihar districts — the home turf of health minister Rajendra Shukla. “I am proud that most of the beneficiaries are from my region,” he said.
The 13 who paid for the service include BJP leader Ram Sajjan Shukla and businessmen from Indore, Bhopal, Ujjain, Rewa and Jabalpur; all paid ₹5-10 lakh each.
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Contours of the air ambulance scheme
Individuals affected by road accidents, industrial mishaps, or natural disasters can be flown to government or private hospitals within and outside the state for free, according to the scheme.
“Ayushman card holders are eligible for free transportation to government and Ayushman-affiliated hospitals, regardless of the location. For those who do not possess an Ayushman card, the service provides free transport to government hospitals only within the state, while transport to medical facilities outside the state is available at contracted rates,” read the service guidelines.
The service requires a recommendation of the district’s chief medical health officer. The contracted rate is ₹2.35 lakh per hour for a helicopter and ₹3.90 lakh per hour for a six-seater air ambulance. Of the 119 beneficiaries, 95 were airlifted within the state; 55 were taken to government hospitals — eight to the state government hospital and 47 to AIIMS Bhopal — and 40 were shifted to private hospitals.
‘No one asked for money’
Of the 64 people flown to other states, 31 were non-Ayushman card-holders, and 11 did not respond on whether they have Ayushman cards. Of the 31, only seven paid for the service, while seven other are special accident cases. Beneficiaries, who were flown outside the state and were required to pay, said nobody asked them for money.
Former minister and MLA Gaurishankar Bisen said, “I felt pain in my chest so I was airlifted to Medanta hospital in Gurugram. No money was demanded from me, so I didn’t pay anything.” The BJP MLA from Garoth Chandan Singh said. “My son was ill and the government made arrangements for an airlifting him to Ahmedabad. No one asked for any money.”
Suneet Makin, son of petrol pump owner and businessman Rakendra Kumar Makin from Satna, gave the same reason for not paying. “My father was admitted to a hospital in Rewa. Health minister Shukla helped us in airlifting him to Delhi for a problem in the heart valve,” he said.
Ghanshyam Tripathi, whose friend was flown to a private hospital in Bhopal from Rewa, said, “The service was provided free of cost on the recommendation of chief minister (Mohan Yadav) as I am his guru (teacher).”
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HT found three individuals — businessman Madhu Wadhwani of Rewa, Umesh Gupta from Rewa, and former MP Ram Vilas Das Vedanti — were never airlifted but the company was paid for the trips. Health minister Shukla explained the company charges a fixed amount and once it is booked, the charges are applicable whether the service is used or not.
Wadhwani and Vedanti’s families said they died before being airlifted, while Gupta’s family refused transfer after seeing the condition of the plane, the family said. Tripathi also complained of the plane’s poor condition. “The oxygen cylinder was unlocked (when it was not in use) and most of the equipment was rusted. Nobody was ready to travel with him but I mustered courage and travelled to a private hospital in Bhopal,” he added.
Shukla agreed that the air ambulance fleet do not comprise new planes but added they have all the facilities. “Their engines are in good condition. It (the service) is serving the purpose effectively.”
To be sure, there are Ayushman card holders who have benefited from the scheme.
A resident of Rewa, Ramvati Gupta was airlifted twice, first from Rewa to Bhopal and then Bhopal to Delhi, said, “This service gave me a second life. I can’t thank the government in words for providing air ambulances.”
A resident of Chhatarpur, 49-year-old Meena Sahu, suffering from acute pancreatitis, was airlifted in the presence of BJP MLA Lalita Yadav. Her son Sumit Sahu said, “I never thought that my mother would be airlifted for treatment. I contacted BJP MLA Yadav and she helped without any delay.”
In at least three cases, the Air Ambulance Service was used for organ donation. In the first case, the heart and liver of Baliram Kushwaha were transported to Bhopal and Indore from Jabalpur; in another instance, Satendra Singh’s heart was transported from Indore to Bhopal.
When asked why many of the beneficiaries were BJP leaders or their relatives, Shukla said some people might have used it under the CM’s special discretionary fund. “In many cases, ministers, MLAs and former ministers got special funds from the CM’s Swekchanudan,” he said. CM’s Swekchanudan is a special fund used by the CM to provide quick financial grant for medical emergencies and natural disasters.
Shukla said some business persons have also benefited. He added that local public representatives provided this service on humanitarian grounds to small business owners and other non-Ayushman card holders. “Later, all these cases get Cabinet’s approval. Many have paid for the service too.”