BANGALORE: As many as 398 of the total 517 ambulances under 108 service have been operationalised by the state government with the help of drivers from various agencies such as KSRTC, BMTC, BBMP and other technical staff from different departments. Health secretary Dr E V Ramana Reddy told Express here on Thursday that of the 398 ambulances under 108 service, 142 were being run by government staff and 125 were being pressed into service with the help of EMRI, the nodal agency for the service. “In a video-conference on Wednesday, I told the deputy commissioners and DHOs to rope in the services of the technical staff and drivers from other departments without causing major upheaval in the day-to-day functioning,” Reddy said.According to him, the drivers and technical staff, hired by the EMRI, have no right to go on strike as they belong to emergency essential services category. “They can protest but only after giving the employer due notice. In fact, they have abandoned the ambulances and have not surrendered the keys. This is not acceptable. But of the three keys of the ambulances, one will be with the EMRI and we could make them run after mustering sufficient number of drivers. Things will certainly improve on Friday,” he said.One of the major demands of the drivers and technical staff is that they be regularised as state government employees -- who are made to work for eight hours instead of the 12 hours the drivers and the technical staff are asked to work for now -- and be provided with ESI and PF facilities.“The staff who operate the ambulances are given one hour as lunch interval, three breaks of 20 minutes each and eight hours duty. They work only if there are calls. The EMRI has told us that it is indeed paying the employer’s contribution of PF. Considering them as state government employees is a policy decision which is to be taken by the Cabinet. I have nothing to say on the issue,” Dr Reddy added.
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