150 union workers of Haryana Roadways begin two-day strike

Employees of Haryana Roadways began their twoday strike on Tuesday, putting nearly 4,000 buses off the roads and hindering the mobility of 13 lakh commuters who use the service daily across the state. In Gurugram, about 60,000 passengers use the service every day to make intracity, interdistrict and interstate journeys.

On Tuesday morning, about 300 metres away from the Gurugram

VIJAY BANSAL, BJP MLA

bus stand, some 150 union workers staged a sit- in and raised slogans against the state government’s decision to allow 720 private buses to operate alongside the state fleet. Such protests were also staged in Rohtak, Sirsa, Bhiwani and Chandigarh. Jagdeep Lather, a union worker who was detained by the Gurugram Police, on Tuesday morning, said, “No amount of force will stop us. We will continue to hold strikes until the government repeals its decision to allow private buses to ply in Haryana.”

GURUGRAM: SUBHASH GARG , Congress

The ongoing strike, which will continue on Wednesday, has been organised in defiance of the Essential Services Maintenance Act, which was enforced by the high court on August 30, after unions had called for a similar strike on September 6. The Act makes any disruption of state bus services illegal for a period of six months, until February 2019.

Over 70 people were arrested and booked under the ESMA across Haryana, with incidents of cane charge being reported from Jind and Hisar.