Delhi's health secy writes to police chief over ambulance staff strike

Health Department of the Delhi government has written to the police commissioner seeking action against a section of CATS ambulance staff who have allegedly damaged some emergency vehicles and been obstructing works of others, officials said Tuesday. In the letter dated July 1, Delhi Health Secretary Sanjeev Khirwar said that some of the ambulance staff have gone on an "illegal strike".

A senior CATS official said, some of the contractual workers have gone on a strike for the last couple of days, and alleged a few of the vehicles have been damaged by them. In the letter, Khirwar wrote Centralised Accident and Trauma Services (CATS) had outsourced operation of its ambulances to a company and its contract expired on June 30 this year, following which a new contract has been awarded to a new company.

The new agency is engaging the wiling ambulance staff of the old agency, it said. However, some of the staff who were initially engaged under NRHM and later worked under the old outsourced agency have been neither coming on duty nor are they allowing other staff to perform their duties, the principal secretary alleged in the letter.

"CATS ambulance service has been notified as Essential Service under Haryana Essential Services Maintenance Act 1974 and HESMA against ambulance staff engaged through outsourced agency in CATS, Delhi government for a period of six months...," reads the letter. Therefore it is requested that direction may be issued under HESMA to the concerned police authorities, PCR for providing adequate security, taking appropriate actions, including preventative detention measures against the office bearers of the association (union) for smooth operation of patient care delivery by CATS, it said.

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