KOLLAM: From this month onwards, 24 drivers of the Health Department in Kollam will receive salaries by sitting idle at the office! Such a situation has arisen after the vehicles that completed 15 years were sent to scrapping units.

The Health Department in the district once owned as many as 79 vehicles. 37 drivers are working in the department. 62 vehicles were sent for scrapping as part of the scrapping policy. With this, the number of vehicles came down to 17.

While two ambulances of the health department has been given to KMSCL, one each has been given to the blood bank and the palliative department of the district hospital. These four vehicles are driven by drivers appointed on a contract basis. With this, there are only 13 vehicles that are directly used by the health department. As a result, 24 drivers are sitting idle. These drivers have been sitting idle at the office since April 1.