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Punjab Roadways, PRTC staff protest turns violent, Dhuri SHO suffers burns
Passengers at the receiving end as contractual employees of Punjab Roadways, Pepsu Road Transport Corporation protesting Kilometre Scheme went on strike on Friday.
Ten persons, including the general secretary of the Punjab Roadways and the Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) workers union, were booked after a contractual employees’ protest against the Kilometre Scheme turned violent in Sangrur on Friday, leaving Dhuri station house officer (SHO) Jasvir Singh injured. At least 25 agitators were rounded up after the clash.
The PRTC and Punjab Roadways contractual employees had announced a statewide protest against the opening of tenders under the scheme, which they claim would threaten their jobs and pave the way for privatisation. Passengers, meanwhile, were on the receiving end as the buses remained off road.
The situation at the Sangrur bus stand turned tense when some PRTC employees, who had climbed atop parked buses, splashed petrol on police personnel when they attempted to bring them down.
Sangrur superintendent of police (SP) Davinder Attri said: “Amid the chaos, someone lit a match, causing the Dhuri SHO’s uniform to catch fire. Police personnel intervened and managed to rescue him. The SHO sustained burn injuries and is undergoing treatment at the Sangrur civil hospital.”
Civil hospital senior medical officer Karamjit Singh said the SHO has suffered 15% burn injuries on the face, hands and back. “Although the injuries are not dangerous or life threatening, we consider these as serious, as we keep such patients separate from other patients to avoid infection,” said Dr Singh.
Following this, Sangrur police registered a first information report against 10 protestors, including Punbus and PRTC contract workers union general secretary, union vice-president
Ramandeep Singh, Gurjit Singh, Rupinder Singh, Manpreet Singh, Dimple Kumar, Jora Singh, Gurjit Kumar, Gurpreet Singh and Manjeet Singh on charges of attempt to murder, causing grievous hurt by use of acid or other means, obstructing and using criminal force against a public servant, voluntarily causing hurt, endanger human life or personal safety of others, unlawful assembly and rioting, and Section 4 and 5 of Punjab Prevention of Damage to Public and Private Property Act, 2014.
A scuffle also broke out in Patiala when Punjab Police forcibly tried to clear the protest site and restore services at the bus stand. The police had to use mild force to detain the agitators. During the clash, clothes were torn and turbans were tossed in the air.
Tender opening sparked tension
Ahead of the protest, PRTC employees alleged that several of their leaders were detained by Punjab Police in an attempt to scuttle the agitation.
According to Punjab Roadways officials, a tender for nearly 200 HVAC (heating, ventilating, and air conditioning) buses under the Kilometre Scheme was to be opened on Friday. The process has been delayed due to repeated protests by employees.
“The unions should not interfere in the administrative affairs of PRTC and Punjab Roadways. The scheme has been in place since 1998. We have already delayed the tendering process for several months. Enough is enough. We have agreed to their demands related to welfare, but they continue to meddle in administrative decisions,” said a PRTC general manager, requesting anonymity.
The official said that PRTC will also open a tender for 200 buses under the Kilometre Scheme on December 2. The scheme allows private players to provide new buses and drivers, while the PRTC pays them on a per-kilometre basis.
Bus services paralysed across state
The strike by the Punjab Roadways, Punbus and PRTC Contract Workers’ Union brought bus services to a standstill across Punjab. With government buses off the roads, commuters were forced to depend on private transport.
A heavy rush of passengers was witnessed at the Inter-State Bus Terminal (ISBT) in Amritsar on Friday as buses of Punjab Roadways and PRTC remained parked.
“I’m a government employee and need to travel to Chandigarh urgently. When I came to the bus stand, I got to know that employees of government buses are on strike. Since only a few private and Chandigarh transport buses are plying, they are packed to capacity. I have to cancel my visit today,” said local resident Kabal Singh.
Strike to continue indefinitely: Union
In the evening, the union announced their decision to continue their strike for an indefinite period following the police action on Friday. The decision is likely to cause inconvenience to the commuters across the state in the coming days as over 2,500 state transport buses would stay off roads.
Chanan Singh, general secretary of the Roadways/PRTC Contractual Employees’ Union, said they were demanding the state transport department to revoke its decision to include the new fleet of buses under KM scheme. “The department has been issuing tenders for adding 1,200 buses under the KM-scheme. The move would be the last nail into the coffin for the state undertakings, which are already in a bad state financially. Instead of privatising, the government should have added its own buses in its fleet,” he said.
Among other demands, the union demanded regularisation of their contractual jobs, implementation of 5% increase annually in their remuneration, ban on hiring of employees through outsourcing and ending private transport mafia working rampantly outside bus stands in Punjab.
Nearly 8,200 contract and outsourced employees are seeking regularisation of their jobs for over 10 years. Presently, conductors on contractual basis are being paid ₹17,000 per month, while drivers, also on contract, get ₹ ₹18,000 per month.
Harkesh Kumar, president, PUNBUS and PRTC workers union, said, “We will continue our strike until our demands are met. The Punjab government is privatising state transport by continuing with the Kilometre scheme. We will not allow PRTC and PUNBUS to hire buses under this scheme at any cost.”
Condemning the police action against the protesting PRTC and Punjab Roadways employees, Patiala MP Dr Dharamvira Gandhi, said, “I strongly condemn the police action against the protesters. Punjab CM Bhagwant is the same person who had promised the government employees before he became CM that no one had to protest as all their issues would be resolved. After coming to power, the same Bhagwant Mann is using force against the government employees. Everyone has a democratic right to hold a peaceful protest.”
(With inputs by Surjit Singh in Amritsar)
