A large number of personnel providing emergency services under the 108 Ambulance Service in the State marched to the Suvarana Vidhana Soudha on the second day of the monsoon session on Tuesday, to exert pressure on the government to provide minimum wages as per the Labour Act.
The workers, who took out a padayatra from Chikkodi on Sunday and reached SVS covering a distance of about 87 km under the banner of Karnataka Rajya Arogya Kavacha (108) Naukarara Sangha and led by its state president R. Sridhar, submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner in support of their demands.
The Sangha has been struggling since long to get minimum wages for their hard labour spanning over 10 to 12 hours a day – providing emergency ambulance services to the victims of accidents and other patients in need and saving thousands of lives for monthly wages of only Rs.7,000 to Rs.8,000. However, but for assurances, the government remained insensitive to their demand for minimum wages, the agitating workers said.
The Sangha also urged the government to reinstate Mr. Sridhar, whose services had been terminated without any valid reason.
