Employees of state-run buses go on strike in Punjab; commuters stranded

Chandigarh, Nov 28 Contractual employees of the state-owned Punjab Roadways, Punbus and Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) went on strike on Friday after police picked up several union leaders, protesting the opening of tenders under the Kilometre Scheme, leaving commuters across the state stranded as over 3,000 buses stayed off roads.

People, especially women, faced inconvenience across the strike by contractual employees on all 27 depots of both the roadways.

The travel of women is free in the state roadways buses. There were reports of a scuffle between the police and the strikers in Patiala and Sangrur towns.

The protest affected passengers at various places, including Patiala, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Moga, Amritsar and Ferozepur. Many passengers said they had to opt for private buses or taxis to reach their destination.

Bus services on inter-state routes and within the state were affected, officials said. The passengers were compelled to shell out more money to reach their respective destinations by private buses and other modes of transportation such as taxis.

The Kilometre Scheme has long faced criticism from transport employees, who believe it encourages corruption by enabling private operators to run buses on government-notified routes.

Union leaders called the policy a "backdoor attempt" to induct private buses and weaken the state-run transport system. They warned it would lead to loss of government jobs, increased unemployment and higher travel costs.

In Sangrur, the home district of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, a scuffle broke out between police personnel and PRTC employees.

Protesting employees climbed onto buses carrying bottles of petrol and threatened to set themselves afire.

During the scuffle, the police intervened, and an attempt to ignite the fire was brought under control.

Punjab Roadways, Punbus and PRTC contract workers' union leaders said about 8,000 contractual employees were taking part in the strike and held demonstrations at all 27 bus depots in all 23 districts across Punjab.

Leaders of the farmers' union Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) condemned the police action, calling it an attack on democratic rights. They said the government should have engaged in dialogue instead of making arrests a day ahead of their call for protest.

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