Strike of 108 ambulance staff disrupts emergency services across Odisha

Cuttack: Emergency health care services were badly hit across Odisha today due to strike of 108 ambulance staff. Employees of 108 ambulance services in Cuttack have protested the arrest of 108 ambulance staff union President Manoj Sahu.

Twenty six ambulances have been stationed near Cuttack Collectorate and all the 183 employees submitted a mass resignation letter to the Collector.

Sahu was arrested on Sunday following an atrocity case filed by Dhaneswar Tirkey, head of 108 ambulance operations in Western Odisha.

Earlier on August 9, Sahu and Tirkey were engaged in a verbal brawl during a meeting in Balangir on various issues, including pay hike. Later on August 10, Tirkey lodged a complaint under SC/ST Atrocities Act against Sahu, said sources.

The 108 ambulance staff of Balangir district had also stationed 17 ambulances in front of Bolangir Collectorate on Monday in protest of Sahu's arrest. They had also handed over the keys of the ambulances to concerned authorities.

Following the lead, 108 ambulance staff of some other districts also have submitted their mass resignation to concerned authorities.