THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Health Minister K Muraleedharan, on Saturday, wrote to Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, requesting the invocation of the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) to avert strikes by the state’s 108 ambulance employees. The intervention follows the 24-hour strike scheduled for September 17.
“The government decided to take a firm stand against such frequent strikes by various organisations because they were causing distress to patients,” the minister said.
In a letter, he also urged that necessary measures be taken to prevent strikes and ensure the uninterrupted continuation of emergency ambulance services across the state.
A dispute regarding the bonus for the 2025-26 year lies behind the strike announced by 108 ambulance employees.
“The round-the-clock 108 ambulance service is a key component of the state’s emergency healthcare system. These ambulances play a crucial role in transporting patients to hospitals during emergencies such as accidents, critical medical conditions, and childbirth-related crises.
If services are disrupted due to the strike, patients requiring emergency care would face a severe crisis, and treatment delays could even become life-threatening. And we view the matter as a serious issue rather than a routine labour dispute,” Muraleedharan added.
