Ludhiana: Commuters suffer as half of state buses stay off roads amid protest

Around 400 outsourced employees from Ludhiana joined nearly 6,000 transport workers who gathered in Chandigarh on the opening day of the assembly session to press their demands

Commuters across Ludhiana continued to grapple with long waits and overcrowded buses on Friday as over 50% of Punjab Roadways and Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) buses remained off the roads amid a protest by outsourced transport workers outside the Punjab Vidhan Sabha in Chandigarh. With only half of the fleet operational, passengers dependent on affordable public transport faced difficulties in daily commute.

The disruption has compounded commuters’ difficulties, particularly those who rely on government buses for their daily travel. (HT)

Around 400 outsourced employees from Ludhiana joined nearly 6,000 transport workers who gathered in Chandigarh on the opening day of the assembly session to press their demands. Permanent and contractual employees, however, reported for duty, enabling the two state-run transport undertakings to maintain partial services despite the absence of outsourced staff. The disruption has compounded commuters’ difficulties, particularly those who rely on government buses for their daily travel.

“Passengers have been struggling for the past two to three days. We have to wait for a long time at bus stops, and even then, there is no guarantee of getting a bus on time. It is becoming increasingly difficult to manage our daily travel,” said Raman, a commuter.

Poonam said the limited availability of government buses had left passengers with little choice but to spend more on private transport or endure lengthy waits. Another commuter, Mohinder Kaur, said overcrowding in buses have added to passengers’ woes.

Punjab Roadways general manager Nawraj Batish said nearly 50% of the buses were operational and the department was striving to maintain services with the available workforce. “The employees are divided into three categories — permanent, contractual and outsourced — and that the outsourced workers have joined the protest, while the other two categories have reported for duty. We are trying to manage the services as much as possible with the available staff,” Batish said.