Train services hit as labour unions block tracks for 4 hrs
Protesters staged dharnas across state from noon to 4pm on call given by Punjab Khet Mazdoor Union
BATHINDA/SANGRUR : Train services were affected in Punjab on Sunday after thousands of members of labour unions blocked the railway tracks for nearly four hours in support of their demands.
A Ferozepur railway division spokesperson said of a total of 19 trains affected, 14 were delayed and five were rescheduled. The movement of trains in Punjab under the Ambala and Delhi divisions was also affected.
Union leaders said their demands included seeking plots for the homeless, reinstallation of electricity meters, punishing those committing atrocities on scheduled castes (SCs) and 25 per cent reservation for workers for Rs 50,000 loan in co-operative societies.
The protesters staged dharnas at Mananwala in Amritsar, Dhilwan in Kapurthala, Sunam in Sangrur, Gidderbaha in Muktsar and Ajitwal in Moga district besides Phillaur, Bathinda, Mansa and Faridkot district headquarters from 12 noon to 4pm.
The Punjab Khet Mazdoor Union, an affiliate of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ughrahan), had given a call to suspend rail services to register their opposition to the Charanjit Singh Channi-led Punjab government.
Union general secretary Lachman Singh Sewewala said, “Homeless and needy continue to remain without residential plots. The Channi government has failed to initiate any step to bring justice in cases of atrocities on Dalits. The government has failed to work on the demands raised by us.”
In a joint statement, leaders of the Sanjha Mazdoor Morcha comprising various labour unions said that if the government does not implement their demands they will intensify their agitation.
“We will plan our future course of action in a meeting on December 15,” they added. The morcha leaders alleged that the Congress high command changed its chief minister in Punjab to cover up its failures of four-and-a-half years.
Even the present dispensation continues with its anti-labour policies, they said.
“CM Charanjit Singh Channi is refusing to provide plots and reinstall electricity meters which were removed due to non-payment of bills. Channi is making big announcements ahead of state assembly elections to misguide the people but nothing is being implemented on the ground,” they added.
They also demanded suspension of a deputy superintendent of police (DSP) from the CM’s security detail who lathicharged unemployed youths in Mansa a few days back.