An Andaman and Nicobar-based organisation has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to revive and strengthen inter-island air services for medical emergencies.

The request coincides with the government's infrastructure push in the eco-sensitive islands. In the letter, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Hindu Rashtra Shakti has urged Modi to arrange medically equipped air ambulance aircraft under government subsidy for low-income patients and tribal communities.

The region's remoteness from the mainland makes air transport a necessity for extreme cases as the capital city, Port Blair, is around 1,300km from Calcutta, while it takes two to three days to travel between Port Blair and Calcutta via sea.

Referring to a recent incident when a patient from Port Blair's GB Pant Hospital was airlifted at a cost of over ₹6 lakh, the organisation stressed that "such costs are unaffordable to most islanders" and that the current system was "riddled with inefficiencies, exorbitant costs, and administrative apathy".

The letter written by Angshuman Roy, state youth president of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Hindu Rashtra Shakti, pointed to the earlier practice by Air India of providing manual stretchers at reasonable rates.

"Now, with Air India Express, IndiGo and Akasa Air, patients are either refused or charged between ₹5 and ₹12 lakh, citing seat removals and operational costs," Roy said, condemning the airlines for the "unethical practice" of imposing charges for both legs of the flight, even if a patient takes a one-way flight from Port Blair.

Tamhid, a resident of the island who paid an exorbitant price to IndiGo in March for airlifting his father-in-law to Chennai, about 1,368km away, said he was disappointed with the discontinuation of Air India’s stretcher services. Air India facilities halted when Air India Express services increased from the Veer Savarkar Airport in Port Blair, now Sri Vijaya Puram, Tamhid said.

Roy said that the mega infrastructure project on Great Nicobar Island might not be a reason for stalling Air India’s stretcher services. He feared that the government's Great Nicobar Development Project would be counterproductive without air-ambulance facilities as the region's health infrastructure remained dismal.

Roy recalled the day his sister passed in May 2022, when there were no flights because of an upgrade work at the Port Blair airport. "What will happen to the mega infrastructure push if people don't survive due to logistics hurdles? The mega infrastructure projects would be a sham if the air-ambulance facilities are overlooked in the international airports," he said.