Punjab: Contractual employees of state-run buses go off road; commuters hit

Chandigarh, Aug 14 Commuters across Punjab faced inconvenience as contractual employees of the state-owned Punjab Roadways, Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC), and Punbus went on an indefinite strike on Thursday against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP government, demanding the regularisation of contractual employees and addressing their long-standing issues.

Protestors did not allow buses of Punjab Roadways and Punbus to ply in several towns and cities. The worst affected places were Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Patiala, Amritsar, Bathinda, Ferozepur and Moga.

Nearly 8,000 employees of Punjab Roadways, PRTC and Punbus were on strike. Bus services on inter-state routes and within the state were affected, officials said.

Harkesh Kumar, senior vice-president of the PRTC, Punbus and Punjab Roadways contract workers unions, said apart from scrapping tenders under the kilometre scheme for private players, the unions had alleged that Transport Minister Laljit Bhullar had failed to fulfil their demands.

After Wednesday, the government called for another round of meetings with union leaders here on Thursday to end the dialogue. The protesters held demonstrations at 27 bus depots, raising slogans against the government.

Kumar threatened to gherao Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann during the state-level Independence Day function in Faridkot.

“Our demands are simple. We urge the government to regularise all contractual staff and end the draconian guidelines.”

Government functionary Jasdeep Singh Lalli said while PRTC operates 1,200 buses, Punjab Roadways has around 1,600, and no new buses have been added to the PRTC fleet in the past four years.

He said the government pays taxes for routes of 5,000 km each month where no buses are currently operating. Another union leader, Shamsher Singh, said, “The department hasn’t credited our monthly salaries. How are we supposed to celebrate the festival without our dues? They claim the funds have been released, but nothing has reached our accounts.”

--IANS

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