Politics News:YSR tells GVK to take over EMRI

HYDERABAD: In an act to rescue the beleaguered Emergency Management and Research Institute (EMRI), chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy on Tuesday morning handed over the organisation which has now started tottering to the GVK group. EMRI has fallen on bad days after the confession of B Ramalinga Raju who had kickstarted the organisation in August, 2005. The move by YSR came after virtually all big players who had been invited by the EMRI management - walked out of the proposal to take over it. This after the due diligence by these organisations showed that corporate governance in the high profile EMRI was not up to the mark. Among those who have refused to touch EMRI are organisations like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Warren Buffet Foundation. The latest organisation to have politely declined the offer is Piramal Healthcare. But Swati Piramal, the chief of the company, when approached by TOI, said: “No comments.” It is understood that many other corporate biggies had declined the offer, partly because the EMRI clashed with the activity of their in-house foundations. “I am sorry, but our due diligence showed up many grey areas,” a chartered accountant who had looked into the working of EMRI told TOI. Analysts pointed out that the concept of 108 is wonderful what with ambulances on the call to respond to fire and other medical emergency. On the ground too it has been working well. After launch in Andhra Pradesh, it has now been extended to 11 other states including Gujarat, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Presently, it has 1,650 ambulances, but this is targeted to go up to 10,000 by 2010. In AP, EMRI has 802 ambulances of which 752 are operational. “Since it started from AP, Rajasekhara Reddy wanted to rescue the project and took personal interest in the matter lately. “ You will note that he has appointed a minister for 108 services on Tuesday,” an analyst said. Having about 13,000 employees, EMRI has been going through a financial crunch ever since the Satyam scam and according to sources, needs about Rs 50 lakh per month for its operational expenses and another Rs 50-60 lakh for its 150-odd top management level salaries. The GVK group will bear five per cent of the cost besides the operational costs while the 95 per cent stake of the state government will continue. But in order to ensure transparency in the working of the service, the state has decided that a government director will sit on the EMRI board. Sources say that GVK has agreed to take care of the project in order to project Andhra Pradesh and also because it will act as a branding exercise for the group. The lack of a private partner had not only caused a financial crisis in the agency, but also led to operational casualties. The staff is not being paid and their morale is down. But with the entry of GVK things will improve,” a source said. According to sources, 6,500 calls to the service provider went unattended on Tuesday, while 11,000 calls were not answered on Monday and another 6,500 calls went unheeded on Sunday.