Profiting legitimately is not a crime

He runs a service, the number of which features on the speed dial of most mobile phones. Shaffi Mather, the brain behind the yellow ambulance service, popularly known as the '1298' service, has seen the business grow from one to 51 ambulances in the last five years in the city. Business? Yes, it is not a charitable service but works on a for-profit basis. That is exactly what is taking him as the Indian delegate to the Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship in the US. Mather, on the eve of his departure, speaks to DNA about the health care system in Mumbai and India.

Where do you think the health care system has gone wrong?
In Mumbai, the infrastructure available is one of the best in the country. I think the problem lies in the accessibility to this infrastructure. Also, we have got our priorities wrong. For instance, a city like London has 600 life-support ambulances while we have around 90. People need to invest at the emergency level. Ambulances are first responders and we do not have adequate emphasis on them. There are bureaucratic hurdles. Every entrepreneur faces roadblocks. Facilitators are viewed sceptically by the powers-that-be.

There are cities offering five star facilities at affordable rates, why not here? 
Health care infrastructure – both public and private – is robust. The need of the hour is cross subsidising, something that we (1298 service) are doing. That is a good model to work with to make health care available to all sections of society. Emphasis is not given on such models. There are charitable institutions that work strictly on a subsidy-to-all model. Our model has infrastructure in place; we differ in that we have people paying different amounts. A rich man going to Lilavati pays us more than someone going to a public hospital. That is how we cross-subsidise and ensure our facility is available optimally, to a larger and wider section of society.

In India, people feel that health care services should not be profit-making?
People of my generation have been greatly influenced by the post-liberalisation era. Our mindset has changed for good. Business and money were looked down upon in earlier generations. We were doubtful if any service should be looking for money or should be on no-profit no-loss basis. A lecture a few years ago by Sam Pitroda made us change our minds before we started this venture. It made us look at legitimate enterprise and legitimate profit; it is not a crime. We were actually thinking of having a no-profit model but were advised to try something new as there were many charities not able to make ends meet.

What would your visit to US entail exactly?
It should be a good learning experience as it is not a Forbes Millionaires kind of event. Many entrepreneurs who work at various levels – from the grassroots to topnotch corporate types – will be sharing their ideas and experiences. There will be people from poorer countries and backgrounds; we can look to get some of their innovations here and work with them. It will particularly be a good platform for networking, and also link with large corporate houses willing to invest.

What is the formula to have a successful enterprise?
Innovation is the key. Our model is innovative and can be used in urban areas of the developing world. There are people who have the capacity to pay
and that needs to be matched with those who cannot. Charitable institutions work, but resources do not get optimised in most cases.