THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A division bench of the High Court on Wednesday directed the police to provide protection to 108 emergency ambulance service that operates in the capital city. The order is in the wake of an attack on one of the emergency response teams at Parassala on Monday. A driver and an emergency medical technician were injured in the attack, allegedly led by A T George MLA. The attack provoked the drivers and technicians to go on a strike on Tuesday. The division bench ordered the police to ensure that the staff of 108 ambulance service do not face any obstruction during their service. The drivers of the ambulance service were already on a warpath against Ziqitsa, the Technopark-based company to which NRHM had outsourced the operations of the emergency service, demanding salary hike. The strike also turned out to be a platform for them to put their demand before the authorities. However, Health Minister Adoor Prakash told reporters here on Wednesday that the government cannot directly intervene in the dispute between drivers and the agency. He said he had directed the NRHM director to seek a report from the agency on the whole incident. Meanwhile, NRHM director Biju Prabhakar said that they had temporarily stopped their services to Parassala Taluk Hospital, where their staff were attacked. ‘’We need the word from the MLA, local people and the hospital authorities that such incidents will not be happen in future before resuming the services to the hospital,’’ he said.
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