Chandigarh: A scathing report from the country’s top auditor has exposed a near-total collapse of Punjab’s emergency response infrastructure, revealing that the state’s “Dial 112” system is operating with an 86% shortage of required vehicles.The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report, tabled in the Punjab assembly on Monday, warns that systemic delays in call forwarding, dispatching, and incident resolution are “impairing” the state’s ability to provide life-saving services to citizens in distress.The audit found a staggering disparity between the federal guidelines for the Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) and the actual resources deployed on Punjab’s streets. Against a vehicle requirement of 1,866 vehicles the actual deployment is only 258 vehicles, which takes the shortfall to 1,608 vehicles (86%).Under the guidelines, each police station should be equipped with an average of six mobile data terminals (MDTs) to coordinate with the central call centre. The CAG noted that the state’s failure to provide sufficient two-wheelers and four-wheelers has left the system fundamentally “hampered”.Governance and funding failuresThe report details a decade of administrative lethargy, noting that the state failed to define standard operating procedures (SOPs) for emergency calls despite federal guidelines being issued nine years ago. The audit also highlighted a collapse in oversight. State apex committee, required to meet 24 times by March 2024, has met only once (March 2018).State steering committee, initially formed in 2015 using only police personnel, took over eight years to include representatives from other departments as required by law. The non-release of essential state funds has stalled the integration of fire, ambulance, and police services into a single unified platform.Impact on public safetyThe CAG’s test-checks across six districts — Amritsar, Barnala, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Patiala, and Mohali — has revealed that without a defined SOP, the state’s ability to organise a timely response is virtually non-existent, “potentially impacting public safety”. The lack of coordination has led to significant bottlenecks at every stage of the emergency chain, from the moment a call is placed to the final resolution of the incident.Ends MSID:: 129634979 413 |
