The indefinite strike by Punjab’s 108 Ambulance Employees’ Association continued for the fifth consecutive day on Sunday at the Ladhowal Toll Plaza. As a mark of respect to Congress member of Parliament (MP) Chaudhary Santokh Singh, who was cremated in Jalandhar on Sunday, they deferred their plan of blocking National Highway-44.
The employees went on strike on Thursday, demanding the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government take back control from the company running the service, Ziqitza Health Care Limited. They stationed more than 300 ambulances at the toll plaza.
On January 9, the association had given a 72-hour ultimatum to the state government and had gone on strike as their demands had not been met.
Vice-president of the association Amandeep Singh, said, “In the name of providing essential ambulance services, the company is minting money. The monthly bill of the company comes to ₹5.5 crore to ₹ 6 crore, whereas the expenditure is around ₹3 crore, including salaries to 1,400 ambulance staff, diesel and maintenance cost ”
The protesting association members said that they are trained technicians, but they were working on a meagre salary of less than ₹10,000 per month for over a decade. “The company has only given wages revised by the Punjab government in April 2021. The amount revised was around ₹180,” the protesters said.
“We want the government to take the ambulance service under their control and pay us a decent salary. We have been assured a meeting with the health minister, due to which we have suspended our plan of a road roko protest,” said Amandeep.
{{/usCountry}}“We want the government to take the ambulance service under their control and pay us a decent salary. We have been assured a meeting with the health minister, due to which we have suspended our plan of a road roko protest,” said Amandeep.
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