They allege harassment by officials of the company that provides ambulance service
Seeking action:Members of the Karnataka Rajya Arogya Kavacha (108) Naukarara Sangha being taken into custody during the protest in Bijapur on Saturday.
Bijapur: Paramedical and other staff working under the Arogya Kavacha, emergency ambulance service scheme (108), went on a strike here on Saturday to protest against “harassment” by officials of the GVK Emergency Management and Research Institute, which provides the service.
Sharana Basappa, who works under the scheme, attempted suicide by taking sleeping tablets in Sindagi taluk of Bijapur district on Friday night as he was unable to tolerate “harassment” by officials.
Mr. Basappa is undergoing treatment in a private hospital here and is said to be out of danger. According to sources, he attempted suicide after his higher officials demanded his resignation “for a petty reason”.
This incident triggered the agitation on Saturday. Members of the Karnataka Rajya Arogya Kavacha (108) Naukarara Sangha took out a procession through the main roads of the city and staged a dharna in front of the Deputy Commissioner's office demanding action against the officials who allegedly harassed Mr. Basappa.
District president of the sangha Mallikarjun H.T. alleged that most of the workers hired by the company had been sacked for no reason. The workers were being forced to work for 12 hours instead of eight hours, he said. The workers were also denied leaves and other benefits, he claimed.
A memorandum addressed to Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa was submitted to Deputy Commissioner R. Shantraju.
Mr. Shantraju asked the protesters to get back to work and the Government would take steps to fulfil their demands. However, the workers decided to continue their agitation.
In order to ensure that ambulance service was not affected, the Deputy Commissioner asked the agitators to surrender the keys of all vehicles or face legal action. When the agitators refused to handover the keys, they were taken into custody.
Later the authorities took the ambulance keys from the arrested agitators.
The arrested workers were released in the evening.
Dharna
Staff Correspondent from Raichur writes
Members of the district unit of the Karnataka State Arogya Kavacha Employees' Union took out a procession and staged a dharna here on Saturday demanding that the Government take steps to end “harassment” of workers under the Arogya Kavacha scheme by officials of the private company that provides the service, and to fulfil their various demands.
The workers staged a dharna on the premises of the District Health and Family Welfare office. Later, they went in a procession to the Deputy Commissioner's office and submitted a memorandum to Deputy Commissioner V. Anbu Kumar.
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