SHILLONG, Aug 10: The state government is set to take over the management of the 108 emergency services on a temporary basis until a new partner is engaged to run the services.
The decision will be communicated to the agitating employees in a day or two with an appeal to the staff to call off their strike and resume work.
The Meghalaya EMRI Workers’ Union had decided to call off its strike following a meeting with East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner Isawanda Laloo on August 3. The employees, who went on strike on July 18, are now waiting for the government order to resume their duties.
The employees have surrendered all equipment to the GVK EMRI as suggested by the deputy commissioner during the meeting.
The state government has served the closure notice to GVK EMRI and tenders have been floated to engage a new partner. “The agreement was over long ago but we had extended the services in view of the COVID-19 situation. We terminated GVK’s services last week,” a senior health official had informed.
He said that the closure notice will take some time to come into effect.
“We are looking for people interested in working as emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and drivers, who form the major chunk of the workforce. We will give preference to those who have already worked with EMRI,” the official had said.
