Guwahati: The staff of 108 and 102 ambulance services employed by GVK-Emergency Management and Research Institute (EMRI) have adopted a non-compromising attitude on their strike, even refusing to operate any of the ambulances to assist in relief efforts of those involved in the boat accident in the Brahmaputra here on Wednesday.

A boat carrying 36 passengers capsized in the Brahmaputra near the north Guwahati bank, leading to the death of two persons, while at least 24 people went missing and 12 survived, official sources said.

The ambulance staff, under the banner of the All Assam 108 Mrityunjoy Employees Association, has called a strike from Tuesday midnight to protest non-compliance with labour laws by the company, non-payment of annual increment dues from 2015- 16 and extended hours of work. The emergency ambulance workers are forced to work for 12 hours a day, instead of the eight hours mandated by labour laws.

On an average, around 5,000 calls are received by the emergency response office and about 1,200 ambulances despatched every day. More than 3,000 calls are expected on Wednesday, a company source said.

All ambulances under the 108 and 102 Mrityunjoy services have been shut down, affecting the emergency medical services.

The health department had issued a directive to all government hospitals to operate their ambulances in view of the strike, a health department source said.

President of the association Pranjal Jyoti Saikia said, "We had given a notice to the management of GVK-EMRI and the deputy commissioner about our strike about 15 days ago. Neither the state government nor the company management paid heed to our demands. We will not be responsible for any casualty happening owing to non-operation of the ambulances. We are taking calls but not responding to any request for ambulances. We have received information that one person died in Majuli because of unavailability of the 108 boat ambulance. We regret the inconvenience caused to the people but we have been forced to adopt this stance."

The association demanded a meeting with the government to air their grievances and a discussion between the employees and the company management.

A written assurance by the state government will lead to resumption of the ambulance service, the employees said.