UP ambulance strike Day 3: FIR lodged against head of protesting drivers’ assocn; ambulance services remain affected in most districts
The strike by the ambulance drivers in Uttar Pradesh marked its third day today as the state government and district administrations attempt to thaw the situation. In Kannauj, protesting drivers have handed over vehicle keys. But protests continue in several other districts as patients face hardships to reach health centres.
Even as the state administration lodged a first information report (FIR) against Hanuman Pandey yesterday, on July 27, the state head of the Jeevandayni Swasthya Vibhag — the ambulance drivers’ association protesting against the allegedly unfair employment conditions — emergency ambulance services (102 and 108) remain affected in Uttar Pradesh as patients and their families struggle to reach health centres.
The ‘indefinite’ strike, launched on the midnight of July 25-July 26 has now entered its third day with both the state government and district administrations trying to diffuse the crisis. Meanwhile, Pandey has been booked under the provisions of Epidemic Diseases Act and the Essential Services Management Act.
Last night, a young woman (allegedly a suicide case) had to be brought to a hospital in Kannauj in a tractor trolley as emergency ambulance service was not available immeditely. Similar reports have been pouring in from other parts of the state where people in rural areas are badly affected due to non-availability of 102 and 108 ambulance services.
Yesterday, Gaon Connection visited various primary health centres and district hospitals to report on the sufferings of the patients and their families. A number of heavily pregnant women had to be brought to the health centers on two-wheelers due to non-availability of 102 ambulances.
In Kannauj, the district administration seems to have achieved the single biggest breakthrough in the strike as last night protesting ambulance drivers were forced to hand over the keys of the vehicles. The administration threatened the protesting drivers of legal consequences and managed to retrieve 51 ambulances.
However, protesting drivers in Unnao, Barabanki, Mirzapur and several other districts in the state have continued with their ‘indefinite’ strike.
Drivers allege coercion
Sulking as he spoke, Rahul Singh, a protesting driver in Kannauj told Gaon Connection that the officials pressured the drivers to hand over the keys of the ambulances and warned them of arrests and legal action.
“We worked under life-threatening conditions during the COVID19 pandemic. Bahot pressure banaya ja raha hai, hum Corona me apne baal-bachchon k paas nahin gaye, uska nateeja humein ye diya ja raha hai,” Singh said. (We are under a lot of pressure by the administration, we risked our lives during the pandemic, didn’t get close to our families even and this is what we are being rewarded with)
Meanwhile, as per latest inputs, Kannauj CMO informed Gaon Connection that the drivers have called off protests and keys have been returned to them. “The drivers of the 102 and 108 ambulance services have returned to work and keys have been returned to them. There are 51 operational ambulances in the district including four advanced life support ambulances,” Vinod Kumar said.
Stalemate continues
Meanwhile, other districts in Uttar Pradesh are still witnessing the strike as the stalemate between the protestors and the negotiating officials continues.
Also Read: Uttar Pradesh govt’s 102, 108 ambulance service grinds to halt as drivers launch strike
The chief medical officer (CMO) of Mirzapur PD Gupta told Gaon Connection that the number of operational ambulances have increased.
“We are constantly persuading the drivers to get back to their duty. The number of ambulances that are operating now has increased to 18. We are still trying to convince the protesters, and we are confident that a solution will be reached,” Gupta said. Mirzapur district has a total of 65 ambulances (102 and 108).
“We will try to rope in drivers from other government services if the protesters don’t agree even after persuasion,” he added.
Unnao district has a total of 90 ambulances of which only six were functional till last night. Similarly, in Barabanki district, there are about 80 ambulances of 102 and 108 services of which 19 have been running for ‘emergency purposes’ till last night. Sitapur had only six functional ambulances.
Barabanki’s ambulance association leader Yogesh Lodhi told Gaon Connection that after the road accident in Barabanki last night in which 18 people lost their lives, sufficient ambulances have been released to ensure timely treatment of the injured persons.
Also, Yogesh Tiwari, another drivers’ representative added that the strike is still on but measures are being taken to ensure services to critical patients. “The strike would continue until our demands are met,” he told Gaon Connection.
What is the Uttar Pradesh ambulance strike about?
Two primary ambulance services of the Uttar Pradesh government — 102 (delivery of pregnant women) and 108 (emergency service) — have come to a grinding halt since July 25-26 midnight, as the ambulance drivers across the state have gone on an indefinite strike.
Till now GVK EMRI (Emergency Management and Research Institute) was operating advanced life support system (ALS), 108, and 102 ambulance services in the state. Now the responsibility of the ALS ambulance service has been given to Ziqitza Health Care. The ALS ambulance drivers have launched a protest against the changes in their employment conditions and payment following the handover of the ambulance service tender to a different company.
The protesting drivers claim that the employment conditions offered by the new company are unjust and the government should be considerate towards their selfless service at a time when the COVID19 was at its peak. The general ambulance drivers (102 and 108 emergency service) have also joined the protests in solidarity and this has created fresh troubles for the healthcare system in the state.
With inputs from Brijendra Dubey (Mirzapur), Mohit Shukla (Sitapur),
Virendra Singh (Barabanki), Ajay Mishra (Kannauj), Sumit Yadav (Unnao).