EMRI workers’ union launches indefinite strike

SHILLONG: The Meghalaya Emergency Management and Research Institute Workers’ Union (MEMRIWU) has called for an indefinite strike from Monday until their demands are met.
The MEMRIWU has also demanded the government to remove the gvk emri management and to pay the arrears and increments of all the employees which have been pending since 2017.
Earlier, the president of the EMRI union, Roipar Kharraswai, had said that they had organised a rally and black flag march, boycotted the training and had held sit-in demonstrations after which they had received assurances to fulfill the charter of demands.
However, the two-month deadline expired on September 22 and no effort has been made to work on the charter of demands.
It may be mentioned that the union wants the state government to set up a separate emergency cell and to sever ties with the GVK management altogether.
However, the state government has asserted that it will not sever ties with GVK EMRI for operating the 108 ambulance service merely to meet any group’s demands, but will go by its performance. Health and Family Welfare Minister AL Hek made the government’s stand clear in the wake of the warning issued by the MEMRIWU that it would resort to protests following the indifference of the GVK management and the state government towards its charter of demands. Talking to media persons, Hek said that the government is only concerned about the quality of service provided by the firm to the people of the state.
“If their services are not up to the mark, we will think of other options but if their services are fine, we will not listen to anybody’s demand of breaking our ties with them,” he said.
Stating that the government would continue with the GVK EMRI as long as the service is satisfactory, he added, “ If they violate any terms of the agreement, we can definitely think of taking other decisions.”