Bhubaneswar, March 19: The state government has acted tough on the agitating 108 ambulance service employees and detained a number of them in Balangir, Bhadrak and Sundargarh districts under the Essential Service Maintenance Act (Esma).

Two employees were arrested after health minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak yesterday directed the district collectors to implement Esma if the national ambulance service got a setback.

The minister had said that the state government could not allow stoppage of the service, as it would affect the health services in a larger manner. He had directed the respective district administration to implement Esma to curb the strike and arrest the agitators.

However, the arrests have not made any difference as the employees decide to continue the agitation till their employer Ziqitza Health Care Limited fulfils their seven demands.

"We are not afraid of the arrests, but are furious over the apathetic nature of the government as well as Ziqitza. We will not call off our strike till the administration listen to us," said executive member of the employees' union Sudhansu Sekhar Dhal.