Bhubaneswar: Emergency healthcare services were seriously affected in various parts of the state Tuesday as employees of 108 ambulance services went on strike to protest the arrest of their staff union president Manoj Sahu.
According to reports, all 108 ambulances remained off the road in many districts including Cuttack, Sambalpur, Boudh, Sonepur, Nuapada, Kalahandi, Bargarh and Deogarh Tuesday. Similar protests were also reported from other parts of the state where the 108 staff kept off work.
Around 180 staff of 108 services stationed the ambulances near Cuttack Collectorate and threatened to submit mass resignation letters to the district collector if their demands were not met.
The genesis of impasse lies in the arrest of Sahu Sunday evening in connection with an SC/ST atrocity case lodged by Dhaneswar Tirkey, head of Western Orissa operations of the service, which is managed by a private firm Ziqitza Healthcare Ltd (ZHL).
Tirkey reportedly filed the complaint after the two got embroiled in a heated argument at Bolangir district headquarters hospital. Demanding immediate release of Sahu, over 90 ambulance staff, including technicians and drivers of all the 17 stations in the district, went on a strike and resorted to mass resignation Monday.
Meanwhile, the ZHL has denied any involvement in the impasse. Talking to the media, ZHL state head categorically mentioned that this was a personal issue between Sahu and Tirkey and it has nothing to do with management of 108 services in the state. The firm has already appealed to the staff to resume work. The officials of state Health Department have, on the other hand, remained tight-lipped on the issue. However, speaking on the condition of anonymity, a senior official of the department told Orissa POST that despite the protest, services remained normal in most parts of the state as many 108 staff did not join the protest.
Nevertheless, the collectors have been asked to be prepared with alternative measures to deal with the situation, he said. “The government is closely monitoring the situation and the problem will be resolved soon,” he said.
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