Shillong, June 30: The Meghalaya 108 Ambulance Union (MEMRIWU) has strongly criticised the state government, particularly the Health Minister, for what it described as a “cold-hearted attitude” towards the long-pending demands to strengthen the state’s 108 Emergency Ambulance Service.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, MEMRIWU president Roypar Kharraswai said the 108 emergency service has been operating in Meghalaya for the past 18 years, yet the number of operational ambulances has remained unchanged since its inception despite the state’s growing population.
The union said the stagnation in emergency medical services poses a serious threat to public safety, especially for residents in remote and rural areas who depend heavily on the free ambulance network during medical emergencies.
Describing the 108 service as a “lifeline left untended”, the union said lakhs of people have benefited from the service over the years, but expressed disappointment over the government’s alleged failure to expand the ambulance fleet, recruit additional staff and equip ambulances with better medical facilities.
MEMRIWU has placed three key demands before the government, including the termination of the existing privatisation model by ending the practice of outsourcing the service to private companies, which it alleged prioritise profits over public welfare. The union also demanded the regularisation of the 108 emergency service and its employees, besides calling for an immediate increase in the number of ambulances across the state.
The union further alleged that while the population continues to increase, public health infrastructure has remained stagnant, forcing many people to rely on costly private hospitals and private ambulance services.
Questioning the government’s commitment to strengthening public healthcare, the union asked whether poor families, particularly those in rural areas, could afford expensive private medical facilities and ambulance services.
Meanwhile, MEMRIWU also issued a public notice stating that despite repeated appeals made through public statements on June 3 and June 11, the government has neither clarified the status of the employees’ regularisation nor invited the union for discussions.
The union said the deadline it had set for the government expired on June 29 without any response, compelling it to launch a peaceful protest from June 30.
As part of the first phase of the agitation, black flags are being displayed on all 108 ambulances across Meghalaya to draw public attention to the union’s grievances while assuring citizens that ambulance services will continue and there is no cause for alarm.
MEMRIWU warned that if the government continues to remain silent and fails to address its demands, the union will be forced to intensify its agitation through more severe phases of protest in the coming days.
