Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh Tuesday flagged off 50 more ambulances here, which will join the existing fleet of 112 ambulances operating in the state.
Speaking on the occasion, he said the state has requested the central government to increase 50 undergraduate seats each in both government medical colleges, the Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital (IGMCH) in Shimla and Dr. Rajendra Prasad Medical College in Tanda in Kangra district.
"We are quite hopeful that the Medical Council of India would soon accord its approval," he added.
At present, both medical colleges have 100 undergraduate seats.
Meanwhile, the new ambulances, associated with the '108' National Ambulance Service launched by the state government in December 2010, would be deployed across the state, Health Minister Kaul Singh told IANS.
He said preference to deploy the ambulances would be given to the villages located in the interiors of Chamba, Kinnaur, Lahaul and Spiti, Shimla and Kangra districts.
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To tide over the problem of shortage of doctors, especially specialists, particularly in tribal areas, the health minister said 100 posts of doctors would be filled this fiscal and 100 more in the next financial year.
He thanked the central government for providing liberal financial assistance to develop the IGMCH as super speciality hospital on the lines of All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi.
To run the round-the-clock free ambulance service, the state has tied up with GVK-EMRI (Emergency Management Research Institute), a Hyderabad-based company, under a public-private partnership mode.
The project is jointly funded by the National Rural Health Mission and the state government.
All the 162 ambulances are furnished with life-saving equipment like automatic external defibrillator and drugs like anti-snake venom.
An ambulance takes 25 minutes to reach a person in urban areas and 35 minutes in rural areas.
Officials said the '108' National Ambulance Service, earlier known as '108' Atal Swasthya Sewa, has so far carried out more than 2,240 deliveries in the ambulances during transportation, besides facilitating 53,948 pregnant women to nearby hospitals.
Of the total services provided, 88 percent are in rural areas.