Join duty by August 19, 8 pm or else...: GVK-EMRI

​Hyderabad: GVK-EMRI, which is running the 108 emergency health services, has given time till Sunday 8 pm for 800-odd terminated employees to rejoin again. Further, the employer stated that staff has to join unconditionally, besides giving a declaration and obtaining permission of programme manager for the same.

Those who fail to report to duty would be given balance salary in the form of cheque on August 20 (Monday) based on termination letter issued during last week. Such staff would no more be on rolls. The striking employees comprising medical technicians and pilots were asked to utilise this opportunity, P Brahmananda Rao, Telangana operations head of GVK-EMRI services said here on Saturday. He pointed out that management decided to give one more chance to terminated employees forgetting the fiasco as some of them requested for it. The company terminated nearly 800 employees from August 11 to August 17, following differences over number of working hours per day.

Brahmananda Rao said that they recruited 145 EMTs (emergency medical technicians) and 145 pilots (to drive ambulances) in the last one week to ensure ambulance services are not affected. He said that they operated between 1,260 to 1,280 trips every day in the last week almost similar to 1,300 trips witnessed per day earlier. Interestingly, nine deliveries were done in ambulance itself while shifting pregnant women to hospitals in last week alone, he added.

Rao explained that a section of employees were given termination letters because they violated agreement rules in their discharging duties. He said that majority of the staff were not opposing existing shift duty of 12 hours work per day. Some of the employees who were demanding 8 hours per day shift were told to give letters in writing, but they did not despite being given a week time.

From August 11 onwards some staff decided, on their own, to work for 8 hours only flouting agreement rules and hence they were issued termination letters, Brahmananda Rao stated. With regard to other demands like cancellation of PPP mode for 108 health services and absorption of 108 staff into government are not in GVK-EMRI hands and it is up to the health department to take a call, he added.

Meanwhile, members of Telangana State 108 Employees Union who started indefinite stir from July 14 onwards, said that they were not ready to bow down to demands of the management. “The contents of declaration are not agreeable as we would be at the mercy of the management to continue or sack from service,” one of the members said.