108 Ambulance service restored

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, July 12

The 108 Ambulance service remained suspended on Thursday as well. However, the agitating employees returned to work late evening after they were assured of fulfilment of their demands. Earlier, the employees had announced a one-day strike on July 11. They extended the strike after a few employees were suspended on Wednesday.

A meeting was arranged between the employees and Director of National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) Varun Roojam in Chandigarh.

“The suspended employees have been reinstated and all our demands met. We have been promised salaries by the tenth of every month. We have been assured that all our demands promised to be fulfilled in May will now be accepted,” said Gurpreet, president of Emergency Ambulance Sewa Project of NRHM, Punjab.

Gurpreet said their demands included 8-hour duty instead of 12 hours, rollback of termination and transfer orders of a few employees, full deposits in provident fund accounts and increments for five years.

Meanwhile, patients suffered due to the strike.

Manohar Das, from Tajpur Road, said his father fell unconscious due to extreme weather. He called up the ambulance service but nobody responded. “I had to call a cab to take my father to the hospital. Emergency medical services should not be suspended in any case,” he said.

Jagjeet Singh from a village near Machhiwara said his wife fell from the stairs in the morning and he called up the ambulance service, but the staff were on strike.