Private Ambulances Stay off Road in Patna
Patna: May 16, 2008
 Private ambulance drivers, on the third day of their strike in Patna on Friday, demonstrated in front of the Red Cross building to press for their demands that include stop on police harassment, scrapping of road permit, toll tax and parking fee, and inclusion of private ambulances in the emergency services.
Chanting anti-police and transport department slogans, the agitators said the state government was taking more than Rs. 10,000 in the name of road permit that is in direct contrast with other states where private ambulance owners are given the status of emergency workers thus being able to earn the same benefit as government-owned hospital services.
 "We fulfill a special need of the society that is not offered by the conventional government ambulances in Bihar. These services include offering transportation of patients to the hospitals where the conventional ambulance services do not reach and carrying dead people from one place to another at a minimal price," union leader Ashok Kumar Singh said.
"If our demands are not met by the Bihar government soon, we would be forced to intensify our stir that could last weeks, if not months," said A. Ahmed, the union vice president.
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