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Over 300 ambulances go off road in Punjab, patients left high & dry

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Punjab’s 108 Ambulance Employees Association announced an indefinite state-wide strike on Thursday, demanding that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government take back control of the service from the private company operating it.

There are 325 such ambulances in the state, which are being run by Ziqitza Health Care Limited, a private company, on contract.

The protesting employees stationed more than 300 ambulances at the Ladhowal toll plaza in Ludhiana, claiming that the private company is not giving them fair wages and they have not received any pay hike for the last 10 years.

Started in 2011 with an aim to provide free transportation to patients, the 108-ambulance service has been in private hands since the start, and the latest contract was signed in January 15, 2021, which is valid for the next five years.

The Punjab employees say they are paid a meagre salary of 9,000, while their counterparts in Haryana get around 30,000-35,000.

Rajinder Sharma, 36, an ambulance driver since 2017, said: “Each ambulance has only two staff members, comprising a driver and a specially trained Emergency Medical Technician. We do nine-hour shifts without any leave. We are paid only 9,000 a month.”

Another ambulance driver from Punjab, on the condition of anonymity, said, “We work from 8 am to 8 pm at a stretch. The salary I get every month is 9,300. Every year, our contract is renewed with new terms and conditions.”

The union members said besides ending the contract of the private company operating these ambulances, around 600 such employees wanted an annual salary hike of 35,000 and regularisation of services.

Santokh Singh Gill of Rashtriya Bhagwa Shiv Sena said, “Due to poor employee policy, the company has been blacklisted in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Why did the Punjab government give it the contract?”

Meeting with health minister unfruitful: Union

On Thursday, a six-member committee of ambulance employees’ association met health minister Dr Balbir Singh to press for their demands. While the minister told mediapersons that the association leaders have agreed to call off the strike as soon as possible, the leaders said the meeting did not have a favourable income and so the agitation will continue.

Health minister Dr Balbir Singh said, “I met members of the union. They are employees of a private company and can’t paralyse the emergency service. I have asked them to resume service immediately, which they have assured to do at the earliest.”

“A contract was signed with the private company in 2021 which will remain valid until 2026, and it would not be possible to terminate the contract abruptly. However, a committee will be formed to address the protesters’ concerns,” added the health minister.

108 Ambulance Employee Association president Manpreet Nijjer said, “The strike will continue till our demands are met. We want a meeting with the chief minister. While we have stationed our ambulances along the road to minimise inconvenience for the public, the government will be held responsible for any issues faced by patients as a result of the strike.”

ZHL’s Punjab project head Manish Batra said, “These employees never raised their demands with us and have taken their issues directly to the minister. Our priority is to restore the services.”

Harrowing time for patients

Meanwhile, patients and their attendants had a harrowing time amid the strike. Ramandeep Singh, a Samrala resident, who had brought his mother to the emergency ward of Ludhiana civil hospital, said, “Due to the strike, no ambulance from 108 service was willing to take my mother to the hospital. I was forced to pay 2,000 to another private ambulance service to travel 40 kilometres.”

In Punjab, private ambulances charge anywhere between 3,500 to 8,000, and an additional 15 per kilometre for transportation to other states. Private ambulances operating from Ludhiana civil hospital charge between 3,500 to 4,000 to ply to Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, and Rajindra Hospital, Patiala.

The union members had earlier given a 72-hour ultimatum to the state government on January 9 and proceeded on strike since their demands had not been met.

Earlier in 2015, the service had run into controversy as the ambulances bore the photograph of then chief minister Parkash Singh Badal. The photograph was removed from the ambulance after the Central government informed the Punjab government that it must either remove the photograph or lose a grant under the National Rural Health Mission, worth 13 crore.

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