Newmai News Network
Shillong | February 4
Emergency workers of 108 under the banner of the Meghalaya Emergency Management and Research Institute Workers’ Union (MEMRIU) have reinstated their demand that the state government should take over the emergency services from the GVK EMRI.
The Union has also threatened to intensify their agitations if the government continues to ignore their demand by not meeting it within February.
Addressing the media, MEMRIU working president, M Syiemlieh said that they wanted to send a clear message that they no longer wanted the 108 emergency services to be privatized or persist to be under the GVK EMRI management but that it should be taken over by the state government.
Informing that the contract of the GVK EMRI management with the state government will end on March 2021, she said, “Our services extend to the public in the entire state and we want all the 60 MLAs to understand the importance of our services and take our petition to them seriously by taking up our demand.”
Condemning the Health Minister AL Hek who had earlier stated that the 108 emergency workers are not under the state government lookout, she said, “The Health minister also gave us a false assurance that he would take up the issue in the cabinet that never happened.”
“All the infrastructures of the 108 emergency services belong to the government then why is the government compromising the health and safety of the public by privatizing this sector. If the Police and Fire Services department is under the government so should the emergency services,” she added.
