Roadways staff hold protest over kilometre scheme

Punjab Roadways employees staged a protest on Friday against the kilometre scheme. Tension escalated when one of the employees attempted to climb onto a bus while carrying a bottle of petrol, alarming both the administration and the police.

Harjinder Singh, one of the protesting employees, said the demonstration was being held in opposition to the opening of tenders under the kilometre scheme. He alleged that several senior leaders were placed under house arrest early in the morning, causing many depots to shut down.

The employees claimed though their protest was peaceful, the police attempted to disperse them, which further heightened tensions. They warned that the agitation could intensify if the detained workers were not released soon.

Gurvinder Singh, a leader of the demonstrating employees, said Punjab Roadways staff across the state were protesting against the government’s new policy. Their main demands include cancelling tenders for buses operating under the kilometre scheme, introducing permanent buses in the department, and ensuring new recruitments.

He also claimed that 25 to 30 senior leaders were arrested in the morning, which further fuelled the protest. Union leaders warned that if the government failed to meet their demands, employees may even resort to blocking highways.

A large number of police personnel were deployed to maintain control. Officials said the employees’ demands have been forwarded to senior authorities of the Punjab Government and strict monitoring is being carried out to maintain law and order.

Two workers’ leaders detained in Tarn Taran

Two leaders of the Punjab Roadways, Punbus/PRTC Contract Workers' Union were detained and one was placed under house arrest on Friday for opposing the state government's proposed kilometer scheme, which would replace the existing Punbus system. The tenders for the scheme were scheduled to be opened today, and the workers had planned gate rallies at all depots across the state in protest.

Avtar Singh, depot president of the union, said that police teams raided the houses of union leaders early this morning in an attempt to disrupt the planned gate rallies against the opening of tenders for the kilometer-scheme buses. He said he managed to escape during the raid. Agitating workers kept buses off the roads and staged a dharna at the local bus adda.

Avtar Singh said the union's state body had only called for peaceful gate rallies, but the police tried to thwart the effort. He added that union leaders Baljit Singh and Lovepreet Singh were taken into custody in the early morning raids, while several others fled. Dalwinder Singh, a state-level leader, was placed under house arrest at his residence in Amritsar.

The roadways workers staged a day-long dharna against the government's action and kept buses off the roads. The detained leaders, Baljit Singh and Avtar Singh, said the organisation would continue its struggle until the kilometer scheme is canceled, the roadways fleet is expanded to 10,000 buses as per the state's population needs, and all detained and house-arrested leaders are released. A total of 127 buses belonging to the Tarn Taran and Patti depots remained off the roads, causing significant inconvenience to passengers.