Karnataka’s 108 ambulance staff have temporarily withdrawn their proposed strike after the Health Department directed the service operator to release two months of pending wages, giving the government and management time until October 21 to address pay revision and other demands.
Employees working under the 108 Arogya Kavacha emergency ambulance scheme had announced that they would stay away from duty from 10 pm on Wednesday under the leadership of the Suvarna Karnataka Arogya Kavacha 108 Employees’ Association. The proposed action could have affected the operation of ambulances used for emergency response across the state.
The 108 ambulance service is managed by GVK-EMRI. With Health Minister U.T. Khader unavailable, department Principal Secretary Rithvik Ranjanam Pandey held a meeting with representatives of the ambulance employees, according to the report published by Prajavani.
During the meeting, Pandey directed the head of the management organisation to immediately release the two months of wages pending for the employees. The workers withdrew the strike after receiving what the union described as a positive response from the department.
The immediate outcome means the ambulance staff will continue working under the existing arrangement while their demands are taken up with the minister. The employees’ demands include salary revision and other employment-related issues. The department has not, in the supplied report, announced a final decision on the pay revision demand or specified the mechanism and date for resolving all the issues.
Paramashiva, vice-president of the Suvarna Karnataka Arogya Kavacha 108 Employees’ Association, said the principal secretary had responded positively to the demands and promised to bring them to the minister’s attention. The union therefore decided to withdraw the strike temporarily and maintain regular operations until the next deadline.
The association has also received permission to hold a protest at Freedom Park on October 22. The employees said they would wait until October 21 for action on their demands before proceeding with the planned protest. The next formal step will therefore depend on whether the pending wages are released and whether the department and the service operator respond to the broader demands by that date.
