Roadways employees make U-turn, say protest still on

In a U-turn, contractual employees of the roadways on Monday refused to call off their strike until all arrested or detained colleagues were released and those suspended and dismissed reinstated.

Reacting to it, Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) vice-chairman Balvinder Singh said the process to reinstate the employees was on and the protesters’ stand of resuming the services only after the reinstatement of sacked employees was uncalled for.

He, however, said, “The bus services were hit only partially and full fleet will be operational soon as the government is contemplating to rehire retired drivers.”

The decision to continue the protest was taken on Sunday night, hours after the protesting union struck a compromise with the state government. The meeting was attended by Transport Minister Laljit Bhullar.

Resham Singh Gill, leader of the Punjab Roadways, Punbus and PRTC Contract Workers Union, claimed that 173 employees remained in police custody. “The strike will end only after the arrested and detained workers reach their respective depots,” he said. The minister had assured the union of immediate release, but “not a single employee has been freed yet”, he said.

Meanwhile, the strike paralysed public transport for the fourth straight day.

Being a Monday, bus terminus in Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patiala, Bathinda, Ludhiana and other major towns saw heavy rush. With the government fleet grounded, office-goers were seen jostling to find seats on private buses.

The state-wide protest had begun on November 28 against the opening of tenders under the Kilometre Scheme — a system under which private operators lease buses to the Transport Department and are paid a fixed rate per kilometre covered.

Workers say the move is a “backdoor attempt” to allow private players on government-notified routes, endangering thousands of jobs.

Union leaders alleged that police had detained nearly 170 employees and slapped attempt-to-murder charges on 10 workers for allegedly attacking an inspector in Sangrur.