Jalandhar: Buses will not operate from the PUNBUS and Roadways Depots 1 and 2 today (June 10). Drivers and conductors will leave work and stage protests at their respective depots to protest the inclusion of private players in PUNBUS’s kilometer scheme. During this protest, temporary employees will protest the government’s decision.
Temporary employees have announced an indefinite strike over pending demands. Initially scheduled for June 22nd to 24th, the strike was flagged off on Tuesday at a PUNBUS bus station in Chandigarh under the Kilometer Scheme, angering the employees and prompting them to go on strike. PRTC temporary employees are also joining the strike starting at 12 noon.
There is widespread anger among the employees against the government. They have announced that if their demands are not met soon, they will surround the Chief Minister’s residence (CM Kothi) on June 11th.
The employees’ main demands included opposition to the kilometer-bus scheme, immediate regularization of temporary employees, and reinstatement of suspended or terminated employees. Due to the lack of concrete action on these long-pending demands, the employees were forced to take the difficult decision of going on strike.
Vikram Singh, the government’s promoter
said that despite protests from employees, the Finance Minister flagged off Volvo buses from Chandigarh on June 9th, which were put on the kilometer scheme. In the history of Punjab Roadways, no kilometer-scheme bus has ever been introduced into PUNBUS.
This scheme faced opposition even during the Badal government, and was subsequently canceled. The Finance Minister is introducing private players’ buses with government-owned look and feel. This move has only added fuel to the fire. Employees say that if the Finance Minister had announced the addition of new buses to the government fleet instead of promoting and approving privately owned buses, this strike could have been avoided.
Passengers’ difficulties will increase, agitation will intensify
The employees have made it clear that their strike will continue indefinitely and for this they had already issued a written notification to the department.
PRTC contract employees will also completely stop work starting at 12 noon on Wednesday. The union of two major transport organizations could cause significant inconvenience to the public and commuters across Punjab.