Govt buckling under pressure of roadways union: Pvt operators

CHANDIGARH Accusing the state government of buckling under pressure from roadways employees, members of Haryana Co-op transport society welfare association decried the government’s stance of cancelling permits of over 870 private bus operators plying on 273 routes.

The permits, they said, were alloted to them by the state government under its own policy of 2016 for a period of five years till 2022.

“However, the government has now given in to pressure from the roadways employees who had observed strike against our permits,” association president Sunil Kumar told the mediapersons.

Briefing mediapersons, Dinesh Singh, another officeholder of the association, said the state carriage scheme was challenged in the Punjab and Haryana high court in 2013, following which in October, 2014, the BJP government approved a fresh draft scheme on February 25, 2016 and after taking and deciding the objections on it, a final approved scheme was published on February 17, 2017, in which 873 private operators were given permits to run their buses on 273 routes.

The association leaders said under pressure of roadways union, the government now wanted to scrap their permits. They alleged that more than 10,000 private vehicles (locally called maxi cabs) which ran pan Haryana, were plying without any permission and were even evading taxes which was also a major factor behind losses incurred by the transport department.

The Haryana roadways employees union had gone on strike on June 13 against the said permits.