108-ambulance service go off roads in Raj

Emergency patients continued to suffer for the second day today in Rajasthan as 108-ambulance service went off the roads following an employees-contractor conflict, a senior health official said.
Over 3,000 employees working for the private contractor GVK-EMRI, which runs the 108-ambulance service in the state, had gone on an indefinite strike yesterday, demanding regularisation of services with the state government, he said.
The medical and health department today pressed the 104-ambulance service in the state to meet the need of emergency patients, the official said.
The 104-ambulance service was initially started in Deeg and Jhunjhunu districts and many more districts were adopting the service, he said.

"Ambulance-104 service would take over the services in the state, if staff of 108-ambulance do not turn up by tomorrow," he said, adding the state government compelled the GVK-EMRI to operate the services to avoid any legal action.
GVK-EMRI contractors were not available for any comment and repeated calls to them went unanswered. GVK-EMRI manages 633 ambulances in the state under the contract of National Rural Health Mission scheme.