Ambulance service of UP govt hit by stir

MEERUT: People in need of emergency healthcare across UP, especially the pregnant women going into labour, had a harrowing time as most government-run ambulances remained off the road for the second day in a row on Tuesday due to the indefinite strike called by the union.
The strike was called after the UP government decided to give the contract to run ambulances to a new firm, which, according to the union, is giving less wages to staffers, is demanding a draft of security before hiring the existing employees and has put other riders in contract.
Over 19,000 ambulance workers continued their strike, leaving 4,600 ambulances stranded in 75 districts.CM Yogi Adityanath directed strict action if any needy person doesn't get the ambulance service. He tweeted, “UP government is committed to provide quality health facilities to the people of the state. It should be ensured that the ambulance service is provided on time to the needy. If this does not happen, then strict action should be taken against the concerned ambulance provider.” The private firm, GVK EMRI -- which manages 108 and 112 ambulance services in UP-- filed an FIR on Tuesday against union leaders and terminated over 20 staffers across UP. 108 is emergency ambulance while 102 is for maternity facility. A meeting between ambulance association members and Mission director (MD) of National Health Mission (NHM) Aparna U remained inconclusive on Monday night.