Govt, unions stick to stand, talks fail

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 11

The talks between Transport Minister Krishan Lal Panwar and representative of the Haryana Roadways Employees Union failed today with both sides sticking to their stand.

Sources said while the union wanted a rollback of the state transport policy of issuing permits to private bus operators, the government was in no mood to review it.

After the talks, Panwar told reporters that the interests of the department employees and the people of the state were of paramount importance to the government.

He said, “The unions are objecting to the transport policy dated February 17, 2017. At present, 853 private buses are operating on 273 routes and all operators have got their permits renewed. Priority was given to those who were already operating buses, including 80 per cent old permit holders. Besides, 1,669 other applications have been received. No new route has been allotted to anyone”.

The employees’ unions did not object to 853 permits issued before the new policy was announced, he claimed.

Panwar said the matter relating to the new policy was pending in the Punjab and Haryana High Court and the hearing was scheduled for April 20. The decision of the court would be followed in letter and in spirit, he added.

Meanwhile, Panwar issued orders for the installation of the global positioning system (GPS) in all private buses. “Once GPS is installed, if any permit holder changes his route, his security deposit of Rs 1 lakh will be forfeited. The permit holders will have to allow persons belonging to 39 categories, who have been granted the facility of free or concessional travel in the state roadways buses. If any bus operator denies them travel in his bus, his permit will be cancelled,” he added.

Asked about the timings of the buses on different routes, the minister said the General Manager and the Secretary, Regional Transport Authority, would take the decision jointly.

Panwar said the state transport at present has about 4,200 buses in its fleet. Besides, 600 new buses were being inducted. While 300 buses had been purchased, the approval for 300 more buses had been received.