Employees of the GVK Emergency Management and Research Institute (EMRI) has decided to go on a strike even after the company appealed to them not to disrupt the services as it would cause hardship to the citizens, who are in need of emergency services.
The decision was taken today by the employees under the banner of the Meghalaya EMRI Workers’ Union (MEMRIWU).
Union leader, Microlina Syiemlieh told reporters that the strike will begin at 4 am on July 18 after the government failed to meet with its 72-hour deadline to scrap the contract signed with the company.
She informed that the union had met with the joint managing director of the National Health Mission (NHM), who assured that another round of meeting will again be held with the managing director of NHM on Monday. “The NHM is not in authority to fulfill our demand because in the past we had met them but no concrete assurance was given to us,” she added.
Union spokesperson Roypar Kharraswai said that the company failed on all fronts in terms of providing quality health services and therefore the contract should be terminated.
He said while the government had sanctioned Rs 12 crore since 2018, yet the GVK-EMRI has resorted to cost cutting, which has affected the smooth operation of the emergency services because of shortage of manpower.
“The government sanctions Rs 12 lakhs monthly with an additional amount of Rs 5000 per ambulance that requires five persons per ambulance for providing services to the public, but the employees are overburdened with heavy workload and meagre salary,” he added.
