Punjab Roadways, PRTC contractual employees go on strike; bus services hit

Contractual employees of the Punjab Roadways and Pepsu Road Transportation Corporation (PRTC) went on strike on Monday to press their demands, including regularisation of their jobs, officials said.

The walkout staged by workers of the Punjab Roadways, Punbus, and PRTC Contract Workers’ Union disrupted services and inconvenienced commuters in many parts of the state, forcing them to rely on private operators.

Women commuters, who benefit from the state’s free travel scheme on government buses, said they had no option but to purchase tickets in private buses.

Balbir Singh (55), a resident of Tanda, said he and his wife travelled to Hoshiarpur in the morning for her eye surgery and were affected by the strike while returning.

“After the procedure, we reached the Hoshiarpur bus stand in the afternoon and had already been waiting for nearly half an hour for a government bus when we came to know that roadways buses had gone off the roads at noon. My wife would have travelled free in a government bus, but now we have no choice but to board a private bus and pay the fare,” he said.

Contractual employees of Punbus also staged a protest at the Punjab Roadways workshop.

Addressing a gathering, union district president Raminder Singh said the workers were opposing the kilometre-based scheme, demanding the cancellation of tenders issued under it, and the regularisation of contractual jobs.

Later in the evening, the protestors called off their strike following an assurance that Transport Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar would meet the representatives to discuss their demands on November 19.

However, Raminder Singh warned that the agitation would be intensified if the government failed to respond.