SHILLONG:
The employees of 108 emergency services under the Emergency Management and Research Institute Workers Union (EMRIWU) have expressed displeasure over the fact that the state government has extended its contract with GVK EMRI.
EMRIWU president Microlina Syiemlieh informed that initially, after the GVK EMRI contract ended on March 31, 2022 the state government signed a three-month extension which ended on June 30.
The employees were peeved at the fact that the government gave the company another three-month extension which will end on September 30 this year.
Syiemlieh said that the union wants the government to take over the 108 emergency services.
According to Syiemlieh, the GVK-EMRI is not making fresh appointments against vacant posts and the employees that are there have to shoulder the additional burden without getting any monetary benefits.
“We want equal pay for equal work under government norms based on seniority,” the EMRIWU president said.
She also accused the management of giving in to the demands of the employees even after getting additional funds from the state government.
Syiemlieh said that when the first extension was made in March, they had met Health Minister James Sangma who told them that the contract was extended only for three months and not for a year since the department had received a report that stated there are many shortcomings in the running of the emergency services run by GVK.
“If the government has such a report, what made it extend the contract for another three months,” she questioned.
She said that if the government turns a deaf ear to their demands, the union will soon sit to discuss their next course of action.
The EMRIWU also said that they do not want the emergency services to be outsourced because it affects the service delivery to the public.