In a shocking expose, 400 Bolero vehicles purchased by the previous Congress government in 2023 for Chhattisgarh’s Dial-112 emergency services have been lying idle for over 15 months, gathering dust at the Amleshwar Battalion grounds.
Procured for Rs 40 crore to expand Dial-112 operations to 22 cities, these vehicles have yet to serve their purpose due to administrative lapses and alleged irregularities in the tender process.
The fleet, acquired under the Congress regime, was part of an ambitious plan to enhance emergency services. However, the project stalled after the BJP assumed office in December 2023. Investigations revealed that the operational tender had been awarded to Jikitsa Healthcare Limited, a company that failed to meet critical eligibility criteria, including the mandatory five-year turnover requirement.
The BJP government canceled the tender, declaring the company a defaulter, leaving the vehicles unused and the project in limbo.
Delays in initiating a new tender have worsened the situation, with emergency services currently limited to just 11 cities. Meanwhile, the unused vehicles have deteriorated, with damaged tires, drained batteries, and thick layers of dust now covering them.
Home Minister Vijay Sharma assured the public of a revival. “We are working on restarting the tender process, which may take 8–10 months. The revamped service will cover 22 districts next year,” he said. Leading IT firms are also evaluating the control room operations for potential collaboration in the updated Dial-112 project.
The controversy has drawn criticism of both the Congress and BJP administrations. While the BJP accuses its predecessors of reckless spending and mismanagement, questions are being raised about the inability of bureaucracy’ to resolve the issue. Citizens remain deprived of expanded emergency services, and ₹40 crore worth of resources continues to go to waste.
As the state government scrambles to salvage the project, citizens are left wondering if this vital service will ever deliver on its promise or remain a symbol of bureaucratic inefficiency.