Hooghly, 13 August (H.S.): A section of 102 ambulance drivers has allegedly stopped services at several hospitals across West Bengal in protest against a contractor agency over a number of demands, causing inconvenience to patients and their families.

The disruption has particularly affected economically weaker families who depend on government ambulance services to take patients home after discharge or transport them from their homes to hospitals.

Tension was reported at Chinsurah Imambara Sadar Hospital on Thursday after the 102 ambulance service was disrupted. Several patients who had been discharged were reportedly forced to wait for hours for an ambulance to take them home. Many families said they could not afford private ambulances, leaving them heavily dependent on the government service.

Meanwhile, local BJP workers and representatives of the MLA visited the hospital. They alleged that emergency services should not be disrupted as part of a protest. A heated exchange reportedly took place between the BJP representatives and 102 ambulance drivers, creating tension on the hospital premises.

The ambulance drivers, however, alleged that the contractor agency under which they work has been treating them unfairly. They claimed that deductions were being made from their salaries, they were being subjected to harassment and they had not been provided valid identity cards.

The drivers further claimed that the absence of identity cards creates difficulties for them while operating ambulances on the roads. According to them, these demands have led to disruption of 102 ambulance services at several locations across the state.

BJP representatives said that the service disruption was causing the greatest hardship to poor and low-income families. They questioned how families unable to afford private ambulances would transport their patients between hospitals and homes.

Hospital sources said that the 102 ambulance service is currently continuing for patients referred to Kolkata. However, services for transporting local patients from their homes to the hospital and from the hospital back home have reportedly been affected.

Authorities are also attempting to maintain services through the government’s ‘Nischay Yaan’ service alongside the 102 ambulance system.

Chinsurah MLA Subir Nag said efforts were being made to ensure that poor people were not deprived of the service. He also stressed the need for an early restoration of the ambulance service and urged that the drivers’ grievances be resolved through discussions with the concerned authorities and the contractor agency.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Priyanka Pandey