102 service, a boon for rural and poor women

Under the initiative, mothers can travel back home along with their newborns free of cost to any distance. The measure was introduced with a view to help the mothers save time cost and inconvenience in private vehicles and buses. 

Though the 102 service has evoked good response, officials are planning to create more awareness among the public about the scheme. As per this service, doctors, nurses or relatives of mothers can dial 102, soon after the mother and baby are certified fit for discharge. 

Further, such service will be a shot in the arm especially for mothers hailing from rural areas as villages do not have adequate transport connectivity like in the case of urban pockets. 

P Ruban Santhosh, Programme Manager, IRCS (TN chapter), said, “As of now, a total of 90 such ambulances are kept at the disposal in government medical colleges, district headquarters and taluk level hospitals across the state. 

On an average, around 400 mothers and their infants are moved from the hospitals to their houses per day and we expect this number to go up after our proposed campaign in the coming days.” 

The number of vehicles under the 102 fleet would soon be increased based on the response and around 60 more ambulances are expected to arrive by next week, he added. 

As a fool-proof measure to avoid any kind of misuse, the call centre personnel of the 102 service, who respond to requests for the service, will confirm whether the mother and baby are fit for discharge and then only depute the vehicles. 

Asked about awareness of the service, Ruban said “We have been carrying out continuous awareness campaigns in the government hospitals and among people.” J Radhakrishnan, health secretary, told DTNext, “The government has always been giving priority to healthcare, especially for rural areas and weaker sections. 

As far as 102-drop back ambulance service is concerned, it is a boon to the rural women, who come to the taluk or district government hospitals for delivery.”

Former director of Institute of Child Health and Hospital for Children (ICHC), Chennai, D Saminathan pointed out that such service should be extended to all parts of the state. 

“I have seen many cases where rural and poor women struggled to return home after delivery as they will not be able to afford to pay the cost of private vehicles. Even after being discharged, they will be forced to stay in hospitals till they get money to pay for the private vehicles. Things have changed in major way after 102 service was introduced,” he said with a big smile.