Bengaluru, Jan 17: UT Khader, minister for health and family welfare, has threatened to terminate agreement with GVK EMRI, a private agency, that runs the ‘108’ ambulance service if it failed to ensure quality and disciplined service.
At a press conference here Mr Khader warned that the staff of the ‘108’ ambulance had not been providing efficient service. “Taking patients to private hospitals, poor maintenance of vehicles, wearing dirty clothes, and parking ambulances outside hotels etc. are not good signs” from the view point of public, he said.
The ambulance staff have threatened to go on strike from next week seeking higher pay.
“We will run ambulance service, let them go on strike. Lack of discipline will not be tolerated. We will take action against GVK,” the Minister said, and threatened to terminate the contract with the private firm if the latter failed to provide quality service.
The Minister said an order was issued on January 14, 2016, for increasing the salary of emergency medical technicians and pilots for the ambulance service. The order would be kept in abeyance if the staff goes on strike next week.
The increased salary costs the State exchequer Rs. 6.64 crore a year, he said.
The Minister said a group with the ‘108’ ambulance employees had been blackmailing the government and encouraging drivers to go on strike.
The kidnapped schoolboy was rescued by the police and reunited with his parents. Son of a gift shop owner from Basavanagudi area in Bengaluru, Chirag has reportedly told police that decided to make some quick money to spend on cricket betting and gambling after learning kidnap tricks from the ‘Crime Patrol’. According to police, Chirag reached a private school around 3pm on Tuesday on a Bounce rental bike and zeroed in on a fourth standard student who was walking out of school. He told the boy he was his father's friend and that he required help to search for a relative who had gone missing. The boy believed Chirag and rode pillion on the bike. Chirag then engaged the boy in conversation and learnt about his father's business and got his mobile phone number. He then made a call to the boy's father, demanded Rs 5 lakh and warned him against approaching cops. However, the boy's father alerted Cottonpet police and special teams were formed to crack the case. While Cottonpet inspector Venkatesh TC's squad verified CCTV footage in and around the school, Chamarajpet inspector BG Kumaraswamy's team started tracking the suspect's mobile phone movements. An hour later, the suspect's location was traced to a hotel on the Lavelle Road-St Mark's Road stretch. Police rushed there, rescued the boy and arrested Chirag.
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for government 6.64 crore is not a big deal....
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