E-Paper
Govt buses go off roads in Punjab for 2-hours, commuters suffer
Commuters had a horrid time in Punjab as government buses went off roads following a two-hour strike called by the contract workers’ union of the Punjab Roadways and PEPSU Road Transport Corporation (PRTC), leading to crowded bus stands with people jostling for seats in private buses.
Commuters had a horrid time in Punjab as government buses went off roads following a two-hour strike called by the contract workers’ union of the Punjab Roadways and PEPSU Road Transport Corporation (PRTC), leading to crowded bus stands with people jostling for seats in private buses.
Protesting against the outsourcing of 28 drivers and for regularising their employment, the contractual workers in Ludhiana protested from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm, while in Amritsar, the protest was from 12pm to 2pm. Bus services in other bus depots of the state were also affected.
Union president for Ludhiana depot Satnam Singh said almost 100 buses have been stopped. “We appeal the government to fulfil our demands. Earlier, the authorities did injustice with Batala conductor and now they outsourced drivers without any trial.”
State general secretary of the union Shamsher Singh said, “Our meeting with chief secretary is going in Chandigarh. Next decision will be taken after the meeting.”
General Manager PRTC Navraj Batish claimed that “Our 50% buses are running. Out of total 107 Punbus buses, only 40 are plying. Along with this, 17 PRTC buses are also running on their routes. We are calculating losses.”
Hassled commuters
Students missed their classes and office goers were also late for work. People travelling to Chandigarh from Ludhiana for work and vice versa had to face inconvenience as many came standing in buses throughout the over two-hour long journey as they failed to get seats.
In Ludhiana, the protesters closed the gates of the bus stand, which led to heavy traffic jam as several private and government buses were stationed on the road outside the bus stand which caused traffic congestion.
Private buses were overloaded with passengers as they were the only source of travel for passengers. More than 1,500 buses pass through the Ludhiana bus stand daily.
Nilam Kumari from Ludhiana was traveling to Pathankot with her kids. She waited for a bus for two hours.
Another passenger Ranjit Kaur said, “I came standing all the way from Amritsar in a private bus as it was fully packed.”
Rajwinder Kaur, a school teacher and resident of Chandigarh Sector 41, said “I waited for a bus at Kharar bus stop for more than an hour. The Chandigarh transport (CTU) bus was fully packed. I came standing till Khamano.”
Sunil Gupta a banker in SBI bank traveling from Mohali Phase 6 to Samrala said, “there was very less connectivity of buses today. I boarded a private bus to reach bank on time, but it dropped me near Morinda and asked to sit in another bus. It was total confusion and chaos,” he said.
Seema Rani coming from Amritsar to Jalandhar for medical check-up said, “I have pain in lower back. My treatment is going at Punjab Institute Of Medical Sciences Jalandhar. I came all the way standing in bus from Amritsar in pain.”
In Amritsar, contractual employees of Punbus raised slogans against the state government and did not allow any bus to depart from the bus stand.
Hira Singh, one of the employees, said they are forced to come on roads to protest.
“We have been getting assurance from the governments of the time for the last fifteen years that all contractual employees in the department would be regularised, but nothing is happening. Now, new drivers are being recruited without any test and training. We will intensify our protest in the coming days if our demand is not met,” he said.
Manjit Singh of Amritsar said, “I have to go to my job in Tarn Taran, but the bus stand is closed. I have no other way but to hire a taxi.”
