Roadways staff protest, buses go off road

JALANDHAR: A majority of Punjab Roadways buses of the Jalandhar depot remained off road here on Monday following a call for a statewide protest by the Punjab Roadways Punbus Contract Workers Union (PRPCWU) . Employees of depots 1 and 2 staged a protest rally at the Inter-State Bus Terminal (ISBT) here and raised slogans against the state government .

The protesters were demanding regularisation of their jobs among other things.

However, the protest got a mixed response as 40% of the buses of the Jalandhar depots were operational, officials claimed.

“However, we have suffered a loss of around ₹8 lakh due to the protest,” said Parneet Singh Minhas, general manager, Punjab Roadways, Jalandhar.

He said the protesters had tried to close the bus stand in the morning, but their attempt was foiled by the police.

Addressing the protesters, the union’s state vice-chairman Narinder Pal Singh said the state government had failed to fulfil longpending demands of the workers.

“Workers employed under the contractual system are being exploited and they are not being regularised despite repeated assurances,” he said.

TOUGH TIME FOR COMMUTERS IN MAJHA

AMRITSAR: Commuters in the Majha region had a tough time as employees of the Punbus and the Punjab Roadways observed a strike on Monday in support of their long-pending demands, including regularisation of their services and increase in salaries.

Around 400 buses, belonging to six depots of Punjab Roadways— Amritsar-1, Amritsar-2, Tarn Taran, Patti, Batala and Pathankot— remained off road.

Though, private, Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) and some buses of Punjab Roadways remained on road, but commuters had to wait for the buses for long. The passengers were forced to take buses from outside the bus stand as the protesters did not allow them to enter the bus stand.