A section of drivers and paramedics of the 108 ambulance service staged a demonstration here on Monday condemning the “anti-employee policies of GVK Emergency Management and Research Institute (GVK EMRI)”, which manages the 108 ambulance service.
In the demonstration carried out as part of a protest across cities in Tamil Nadu, the protesters demanded the company to immediately drop employee appraisal system followed by the company.
They alleged that the appraisal was being used to deny employees their rightful salaries paid to the company by the government.
“For instance, the drivers are evaluated on parameters like mileage of the vehicle and number of cases taken. They can vary widely depending on whether cases are getting reported in city or suburban regions far away,” said S. Marisamy, district president of 108 Ambulance Workers Association said. He alleged there was no mechanism to raise any grievance employees might have with their appraisals.
M. Jayakumar, State deputy treasurer of the association, alleged that the company was also targeting employees associated with union activities. “Many employees active in union have been sent home in the recent past,” he claimed.
The protesters also complained about the poor condition of a majority of the ambulances. He said that the association had already written to Tamil Nadu Health Systems Project and the Labour Department but no action had been taken yet.
