The Meghalaya government has decided to issue a pretermination notice to the GVK Emergency Management and Research Institute (EMRI) that runs ambulance service in the state.
The government is not satisfied with GVK-EMRI’s performance.
State health minister AK Hek told reporters on Tuesday that if the GVK EMRI failed to perform within two months after issuing the pretermination notice, further course of action would be taken.
He was chairing a meeting to discuss the disruption of ambulance service in Meghalaya in presence of state health officials and representatives of the GVK EMRI.
The decision to issue the pretermination notice came after the GVK EMRI could not provide ambulance service due to strike by its staff.
The GVK EMRI is running the 108 Ambulance services, which has been disrupted across Meghalaya following the strike.
The staff alleged the state government of being indifferent towards their 36-charter of demands and demanded that the immediate termination of the agreement.
The agreement between the Meghalaya government and GVK EMRI was signed during 2009-2010 for a period of nine years.
Asked if the pretermination notice would mean that the state government wants to start its own emergency cell, Hek said the government has not thought taking over the emergency service.
“The state government signed the agreement with GVK and it is government’s duty to ask the company to resume the emergency service,” he added.
Recently, the state government had promulgated the Meghalaya Essential Services Maintenance Act, which prohibited strike by GVK EMRI staff.
The order remains in force for a period of six months.
Earlier, the health department had constituted a committee on how to bring about conciliation between the GVK EMRI and its staff.
No solution, whatsoever, could be found and this has led to agitation by the staff.