Passengers again left stranded as PRTC, Punjab Roadways employees remain on strike

Chandigarh, November 14

Passengers again faced inconvenience in Punjab on Monday after contractual employees of the Pepsu Road Transportation Corporation (PRTC) and state roadways stayed on strike.

Punjab Roadways Punbus PRTC Contract Workers’ Union president Resham Singh Gill said employees held protests at 27 depots in the state and many buses remained off the roads.

He said their meeting with Himanshu Jain, additional principal secretary to the chief minister, on Monday remained inconclusive.

The protesting employees have now threatened to protest outside the residence of the chief minister on Tuesday.

The contractual employees are protesting the removal of a conductor posted at Batala depot for alleged dereliction of duty.

The checking staff found a passenger travelling without ticket in a bus of Batala depot near Balachaur a few days ago and lodged a complaint against the conductor of the bus.

The employees are demanding reinstatement of the conductor without any inquiry. The protesters were also against the transfer of some employees from Ferozepur to Patti.

The strike left many passengers harassed at various bus stands, including at Ludhiana and Moga, where they kept waiting for the state-owned buses.

“I have been waiting for a state-owned bus to go to Amritsar for more than two hours but have not been able to see it,” said an elderly woman at the Ludhiana bus stand.

Passengers complained that they were forced to travel in private buses due to the strike.

A passenger rued that the state government should make alternate arrangements for stranded passengers in case of strike by bus employees.

A state government statement said additional principal secretary to CM, Himanshu Jain and director, state transport Amandeep Kaur had detailed parleys with a delegation of union comprising Gill, Shamsher Singh Dhillon and others.

In the meeting, it was decided that an inquiry against the conductor will be done in a time-bound manner and will be completed within three days. 

Director, state transport department also gave her nod to review the transfers of employees from Ferozepur to Patti within seven days.

During the meeting the other pending demands of the state employees were also deliberated upon and were noted by the officers for further action, the statement said.

The officers assured the delegation that senior officers of the state government will be apprised about the genuine demands of the union.

They said these demands will be considered sympathetically for which a meeting will be held again on December 12.