108 services handled over 23000 cases across Assam in Dec amid staff unrest

Guwahati: The Mrityunjoy 108 emergency ambulance services successfully handled a surge in emergency cases between Dec last year and Jan amid staff unrest and disruptions.

The achievement was made despite agitation, non-cooperation, and absenteeism by some emergency medical technicians (EMTs), pilots and emergency response officers (EROs), who cited unresolved demands such as job regularisation, fair wages and the payment of several years of pending overtime dues.


The service remained fully operational statewide through swift recruitment, training and deployment of local youths, backed by district administrations and health authorities.

In Dec, the service handled 23,631 emergency cases across Assam, with a peak of 1,399 patients attended to in a single day on the last day of the month, which is the highest daily count in two years, surpassing the last year’s average of 1,047 cases. Their response times also dropped from an average of seven minutes six seconds to six minutes two seconds.

“Thanks to the newly hired personnel. We have currently over 1,300 contractual workers now, who have been trained, and are now working,” said Dhurjyoti Prasad Bhattacharya, the spokesperson of the emergency response services.

The organisation refuted the allegations made by the past employees as ‘false and misleading’ labelling them baseless. “A clear deadline of Dec 30, 2025, was given to non-terminated employees to resume duty, to which many have positively responded and resumed work. Further, the management has also commenced mass onboarding of manpower from Jan 2, 2026, to strengthen operations and ensure uninterrupted emergency services to the public,” he said.