108/102 staff to get salary ordered by HC

Tribune News Service

Shimla, November 17

The 108 and 102 ambulances will not go off road, at least in the immediate future. In a meeting between the Secretary, Health, and the representatives of the 108/102 Employees Union, the latter were today assured that most of their demands would be met. “We had a long meeting with the Secretary, and he assured us that our demands would be addressed,” said 108/102 Employees Union president Puran Chand.

The GVK-EMRI staff, who operate the 108 and 102 ambulances in the state, had gone on mass leave on Diwali, alleging that their long-standing demands had not been addressed. Among their main demands is the grant of salary that the High Court had ordered the company to pay them from January 2020. “We have been assured that the staff will get the salary as ordered by the High Court with arrears from January,” said Puran Chand.

He added that the salary deducted while an employee was in quarantine or on medical leave, too, would be reimbursed. “Besides, the Health Secretary assured us that a new transfer policy would be formulated within a couple of days. Also, the employees, whose services have been wrongly terminated, will be reinstated,” he said.

“It was a positive meeting, but much would depend on the implementation of the assurances given to us,” said Puran Chand.