Ludhiana | Roadways employees’ union stages protest against ‘km scheme’ plan

During the protest in Ludhiana, roadways contractual employees said the government was working to privatise the public transport sector and lives of passengers were also being put on risk by recruiting untrained drivers/staffers through outsourcing

Criticising the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government’s proposal to recruit staff on an outsourcing basis and allowing more private buses to ply under its ‘kilometre scheme’, PRTC Contractual Employees’ Union held a gate rally (protest) against the state government at bus stand here on Thursday.

Roadways employees’ union protesting against ‘km scheme’ plan in Ludhiana. (Harvinder Singh/HT)

The protesting employees said the government was working to privatise the public transport sector and lives of passengers were also being put on risk by recruiting untrained drivers/staffers through outsourcing. They also lambasted the government for failing to fulfil its pre-poll promises, including the regularisation of contractual staff.

State general secretary of the union Shamsher Singh said a number of meetings had been held at the state-level, but the government has failed to fulfil the genuine demands of the union. “Rather than regularising the contractual staff, the government is recruiting additional staff on an outsourcing basis. Registration of more private buses under the ‘km scheme’ will further result in loss to the state exchequer,” he said.

“Due to its wrong policies, the department is not even able to pay the salaries to its employees and AAP is befooling voters in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh by making tall claims of good governance in Punjab. The government should stop outsourcing the employees and privatisation of the public sector, otherwise they will be forced to move on roads against the government,” said Singh.