Port Blair, 6 June 2025: In a strongly worded appeal addressed to the Prime Minister of India and senior Union Ministers, the Hindu Rashtra Shakti (HRS) has drawn national attention to the mounting healthcare crisis in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, particularly concerning emergency medical evacuation and logistical support for critically ill patients. The organisation has urged the central government and the Andaman & Nicobar Administration to take immediate and comprehensive action to reform the existing system, which it describes as unjust, unaffordable, and dangerously inefficient.
The memorandum, signed by Angshuman Roy, State Youth President of Hindu Rashtra Shakti, outlines the stark contrast in healthcare access between the Indian mainland and the island territory. While the mainland benefits from an expansive network of hospitals and ambulance infrastructure, the geographical isolation of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands makes air evacuation a life-saving necessity. However, families are increasingly being forced to bear exorbitant costs, sometimes amounting to over ₹6 lakh, simply to airlift their loved ones to mainland hospitals. In one recent case, a critically ill patient had to be flown out from G.B. Pant Hospital in Port Blair, with the entire cost borne by the family.
The letter highlights how airlines such as Air India Express, IndiGo, and Akasa Air now charge between ₹5 lakh and ₹12 lakh for stretcher transport, citing the need to remove multiple seats and operational constraints. In the past, Air India permitted manual stretcher setups at comparatively reasonable rates, but the shift in policy and players has resulted in arbitrary pricing and frequent refusals to carry patients. HRS notes that there is no standard protocol governing stretcher transport, and worse, patients are often charged for both legs of a round trip—even when boarding from only one end.
The memorandum paints a troubling picture of the lack of preparedness at the local level. Port Blair Airport lacks permanent infrastructure for stretcher handling, trained medical ground staff, or any dedicated system to coordinate emergency evacuations. Within the islands, particularly in remote locations like Car Nicobar, Campbell Bay, and Little Andaman, helicopter services are either unavailable or so irregular that they cannot be relied upon during medical emergencies. The consequences of these failures are especially grave for patients suffering from heart attacks, strokes, neonatal complications, and cancer—conditions where every minute counts.
Another major concern raised by HRS is the absence of a dedicated medical control room within the Directorate of Health Services in the islands. Emergency referrals from G.B. Pant Hospital to mainland institutions such as AIIMS, CMC Vellore, or Apollo Hospitals are delayed by outdated, paper-based procedures. Without a real-time online communication system between island and mainland hospitals, coordination breaks down when it is needed the most.
To address these concerns, HRS has proposed a series of reforms aimed at ensuring timely, affordable, and accountable medical evacuation services. These include stationing certified aircraft engineering teams in Port Blair to enable local stretcher seat modifications, mandating all airlines operating in the region to follow standardized medical protocols with regulated pricing, and extending full Ayushman Bharat coverage for government-referred patients. The organisation has also called for the establishment of a 24×7 Medical Evacuation Command Centre in Port Blair, which would coordinate emergency evacuations and streamline communication between hospitals, airlines, and patient families. Additionally, it recommends the creation of a single-window system and an online portal to handle referrals and ticketing, thereby eliminating procedural delays.
HRS has also emphasized the need to revive inter-island helicopter services and to include stretcher-friendly aircraft under the UDAN scheme, with at least one emergency-compatible flight kept on standby each day. For poor and tribal communities, the deployment of medically equipped air ambulance aircraft under government subsidy is seen as essential. The letter ends with a heartfelt plea for public awareness campaigns and training programs to ensure that healthcare workers and family members know how to initiate emergency evacuation without unnecessary delay.
Describing the current situation as morally unacceptable, Angshuman Roy asserted that people in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands are equal citizens of the Republic and must not be left to suffer because of their location. “Without timely action, lives will continue to be lost—not due to lack of medicine, but due to systemic failure in logistics,” he warned. The HRS has placed its trust in the central leadership to intervene decisively and deliver much-needed relief and dignity to patients in the island territory.
