Seeking regular jobs, workers block highway

Our Correspondent

Fatehgarh Sahib, July 10

Traffic on the Delhi Amritsar National Highway remained suspended from 10 am to 4 pm today as employees from various departments working on contract and daily wages blocked the GT Road here.

Commuters were inconvenienced as the contractual employees protested on the highway demanding regularisation of their services. The police diverted the traffic through link roads, causing a massive traffic jam. By evening, heavy traffic remained parked on the roadside and long queues of trucks and other vehicles blocked all the link roads.

Officials and the police negotiated with the striking leaders to find a breakthrough. As the dharna by the contractual employees was organised near the Bhakra main canal, the district administration arranged divers to avert any eventuality.

Addressing the protesters, contractual employees leader Balihar Singh said the workers working on contracts had been constantly demanding regularisation, but the government seemed indifferent to their, so they had to block the national highway. He said the honorarium being given to the contractual and daily wage employees was too low to make both ends meet. He said they were not given any additional allowance nor any other facilities.