The strike by the field workers has brought the 108 emergency ambulance services to a grinding halt on Wednesday. On the call given by the association of 108 ambulance service workers, more than 700 field workers of the service- which is considered the most vital for saving lives of the patients- remained on strike.
Taking a tough stance on the strike, the administration of the GVK- EMRI 108 service has given an ultimatum of 24 hours to the striking employees to get back to their duties.
The administration has also threatened to terminate the employees who fail to resume work by the end of 24 hour- ultimatum.
However, an unfazed president of the association of 108 ambulance workers, Neeraj Kumar Sharma said that the demands of the field workers are justified. He said that though they have received pending salary of two months the management has not yet paid their due allowances.
The workers are also annoyed over the decision to slash salary on account of the mass leave stir they had undertaken in August last.
The workers have been demanding timely payment of their salaries and the allowances besides fixing their basic salary as per the labour laws. They also demand that the ambulance workers should not be unnecessarily transferred and a committee should be constituted to look into their problems.
Meanwhile, the state head of the GVK EMRI 108 emergency ambulance service, Manish Tinku said that the strike of the workers is illegal. He claimed that the pending salaries and allowances have been paid to the staff. He, however, admitted that the strike had impacted the service on Wednesday. He in the same breath assured that 80 percent of the fleet would be back on the roads on Thursday. “We have sought services of drivers from neighbouring states. Besides, the CMOs have also assured that they would provide staff. I am sure we would be able to operate 80 percent of our service by tomorrow,’’ he said.
Left at the receiving end of the strike, the patients suffered grimly on the day as the ambulance service was off the road on the day. The impact of the strike was felt all the more in the far- flung and mountainous areas of the state where the people faced hardships to transport the patients to the hospitals, shorn as they are of alternatives.
Notably, the 108 ambulance service operates a fleet of 139 ambulances. Apart from it, the company also operates 95 ambulances under ‘Khushion Ki Sawari’ service under which the new- born and their mothers are ferried back home from the hospitals after the delivery is over.