108 ambulance staff threaten to skip work on July 8 over unpaid salary dues

BENGALURU: The state may be staring at a health emergency in the coming days with the 108 ambulance staff threatening to stop services on July 8 to seek fulfilment of their demands.

The 108 Arogya Kavacha ambulance drivers, staff nurse and other personnel have said they will not report to duty and will go on mass leave over four months’ salary dues and unpaid arrears over the last three years.

The 108 ambulance service is being operated by GVK EMRI group and there are about 3,000 staff nurses and ambulance drivers in the state. Some Health Department officials allege that the private firm has diverted the funds provided to run the ambulance service.

“For the last four months, GVK EMRI has not paid us our salaries and it has become very difficult for us. We are about 3,000 employees including ambulance drivers and nursing staff. If we ask the GVK staff, they claim they have not got funds from the state government, but officials say funds have been released. We have appealed to the officials and met the health minister who promised to resolve the issue in 2-3 days. The government should intervene in the matter soon”, said Chandrashekar, general secretary of the Arogya Kavacha ambulance drivers’ association.