Employees of the GVK EMRI in Meghalaya on Monday said the Meghalaya government was willing to remove the company by following proper procedures.
However, Meghalaya health minister AL Hek did not assure the employees of GVK EMRI about their job security.
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The employees, who ended their hunger strike on Saturday without getting assurance on most of their demands, met Hek on Monday evening and discussed with him for more than two hours.
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The employees started their hunger strike since October 29 demanding better salary, more manpower, stop pay cuts and provide good ambulances among other demands.
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The government was funding the GVK EMRI to provide emergency services by operating ‘108 ambulance’ in the state.
The emergency services have stopped for almost a month due to a series of agitations by the employees of GVK EMRI.
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Hek said the meeting was inclusive as he would again meet them after they discuss among themselves.
The Meghalaya Emergency Management and Research Institute Workers’ Union (MEMRIWU) president, Roypar Kharraswai said the discussion with Hek was on the demand to remove GVK EMRI from the state and job security.
“The minister said the government was willing to remove GVK EMRI but it has to follow certain procedures,” Kharraswai said.
On job security, he said the minister maintained that he cannot give any assurance.
“We feel that the state government should not throw us even after removing GVK EMRI because we have dedicatedly served for 11 years and tried to give our service the best for the interest of the people in need,” he said.
Stating that the meeting with Hek was not satisfactory, Kharraswai said it was decided to go back to all the members of the union who had taken part in the agitation and take a collective decision about the future course of action.
“Though we have ended our strike, but we will not resume our duty until the government resolves the issue. We will intensify our agitation by adopting different strategy,” he said.