Talli-Bidda Express in AP marked by delay

The `Talli-Bidda Express' started by the AP government needs to be speeded up. Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu had first-hand experience of the usual speed of public facilities and those manning them. While formally launching the programme for the benefit of young mothers at the Eluru centre in West Godavari on Friday, the Chief Minister spoke to a woman working at the Call Centre set up in connection with the `Talli-Bidda' scheme. Chandrababu wanted to know how much time it would generally take to reach a patient to the hospital or home. He asked the woman at the centre how much time it would take for the ambulance meant for the patients to drop a new mother and the baby, say between the call centre and the nearest public hospital. He told the woman he was speaking from the hospital. CM: Hi Mother, Is it the Call Centre? Call Centre woman (CCW): Namaskaram, what service we can do for you? CM: Do you have ambulances? CCW: Sir, we have. CM: I'm speaking from the Eluru public hospital. A new mother and baby have to be sent home. How long would it take for you to send an ambulance? CCW: For the ambulance to reach the spot, it would take half-an-hour Sir. CM: How many ambulances do you have? CCW: We have enough numbers Sir. CM: In which case, why do you need half an hour? That's delay. We have started 102 Service for the benefit of the patients in general. You try to get a broader understanding on the service. How can you talk of delay on the first day itself. CCW: We will improve our service. You will get the ambulance in 10 minutes. Thank You Sir. Did the call centre woman know it was the Chief Minister who was calling? Everybody in Andhra Pradesh, more so in Telangana, recognizes the voice of Chandrababu Naidu. When such is the case, couldn`t the woman have recognized the voice. Didn't she know the Chief Minister was in town? Perhaps she thought half-an-hour is accepted as the right time for dropping a new mother and a baby home. Now how much time it would take for a woman in throes to get to hospital in real time? That is the test for the 102 scheme.