India : Ambulance service doctors on indefinite stir
Aurangabad: Doctors attached to Union government sponsored '108' ambulance service have launched an indefinite strike with effect from Friday night to press for their demand of wage revision and job security.
Services of about 30 ambulances operating under the project have been severely affected due to the strike, causing inconvenience to patients in remote areas.
The doctors are firm on their decision to continue the strike till their demands are met, which means the service will remain out of bounds even on Sunday.
Rahul Navpute, president of Maharashtra Rajya Apatkanlin Vaidyakiya Sanghtana Aurangabad (an action committee of the doctors), said that more than 75 doctors across the district are languishing with a meagre pay since 2013 when the service was launched. The doctors working in rural areas are given Rs 12,000 per month while those working in urban areas get Rs 14,000 per month. Moreover, we have no job security, he said.
As part of the project, the state government has tied up with a private company , Bharat Vikas Group based in Pune, to operate the service in Maharashtra. Accordingly, the group launched services of 937 ambulances across the state out of which 30 ambulances are deployed in the district.
But to manage the services in the district, the group recruited only 78 doctors who have been working in shifts. Apart from poor wages, the doctors also experience hectic work schedules. "We work day and night without getting satisfactory returns. We have now decided to fight tooth and nail against the group," he said.
The service was launched to provide emergency service to patients. The state government has provided ambulances that are equipped with advance life support (ALS) system and other basic life support (BLS) system. The categories have doctors, medical staff, facilities like cot, scoop stretcher, pulse oximeter, suction pump (manual and electronic), oxygen cyclinder etc.