Ladakh has launched a dedicated 24×7 ambulance service covering all 248 villages across the Union territory’s eight districts, with residents able to seek emergency assistance through helpline 108. The administration said the Ladakh Sanjeevani Seva is intended to reduce delays in reaching medical facilities, particularly for people living in remote settlements and areas affected by harsh winter conditions.
The service has a fleet of 73 ambulances operated by trained drivers. According to a government spokesperson, every village has been mapped to a designated ambulance and driver, while each ambulance has been linked to the nearest health centre. The ambulances are located an average of 13 kilometres from the villages they serve.
The service is designed to respond to road accidents, medical emergencies involving tourists, high-altitude emergencies and cases involving pregnant women who need transport to hospitals. The administration said the objective is to provide assistance at the location of an emergency and help patients reach a healthcare facility in time.
The programme includes a specific maternal healthcare component. Health workers have visited villages to collect information about expecting mothers, including their expected dates of delivery. More than 1,100 pregnant women across Ladakh have been included in a centralised database, with each woman linked to the ambulance and driver assigned to the nearest village.
The administration said this advance information would allow health workers to identify when a woman’s expected delivery date is approaching, locate her residence and determine which ambulance is available for transport. It said the system was intended to support timely arrangements and reduce the risk of delays, especially in remote settlements and during severe winter conditions, when arranging transport at short notice can be difficult.
The service will also support patients undergoing treatment for cancer, kidney disease, heart disease, stroke and serious lung conditions. The government spokesperson said many such patients require repeated hospital visits, and that arranging transport can create physical, emotional and financial pressure for patients and their families.
Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena described the launch as a significant milestone and said the administration was committed to ensuring that no citizen was left without support during a medical emergency. Addressing the launch, Saxena said a health system should be judged not only by its buildings but also by how quickly it reaches a woman in labour, an accident victim or a critically ill patient in a remote village.
“Through Ladakh Sanjeevani Seva, we are ensuring that medical assistance reaches people when they need it most,” Saxena said, according to the administration. He added that special attention was being given to pregnant women and critically ill patients, and that the aim was to prevent distance or lack of transport from denying people timely medical care.
The administration’s village-level mapping, ambulance deployment and pregnancy database form the operating framework announced for the service. Residents can access the emergency response through helpline 108, with ambulances linked to nearby health centres for onward medical assistance.
