With the contract of GVK EMRI Company for operating 108 emergency ambulance service ending on March 31, an uncertain future looms ahead for about 850 employees of the company.
The state government had recently handed over the task of operating the 108 ambulance service to Community Action and Motivation Programme (CAMP) after it had quoted the cheapest rate in the tender process. As the term of its contract is ending on March 31, the GVK- EMRI management has issued letters to the all its employees in which it is mentioned that March 31 would be their last day in service. The 108 ambulance service has more than 850 employees who include drivers, technicians and workers of its call centres.
On Tuesday, the chairperson of State Commission for Protection of Child Rights ( SCPCR), Usha Negi sent a letter to the chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat and requested him to the look in the matter. She said that loss of jobs of the staffers would affect more than 2000 children. Negi in her letter suggested that the government should create a federation of these employees and operate the emergency ambulance service with them. It would not just provide job stability it would also result in saving money to be used in development, she said.
It is learnt that the new operator CAMP is willing to appoint experienced staff of the GVK EMRI, but at the same time, it is reportedly not ready to pay them the salary they were receiving.
Started in the year 2008, the 108 services is a vital cog in providing emergency care in all parts of the state. The service also caters to the important task of transporting pregnant women for safe deliveries to the hospitals under Khushiyon Ki Savari. The 108 ambulance service has a fleet 139 ambulances and it has a boat ambulance too which operates in the Tehri lake.