E-Paper
Punjab Roadways, PRTC staff shuts down Ludhiana bus stand for 2 hours
With Punjab Roadways/PRTC contractual employees shutting down the bus stand for two hours, there was complete chaos outside the bus stand in Ludhiana on Tuesday
With the Punjab Roadways/PRTC contractual employees shutting down the bus stand for two hours in protest against the state government for its failure in releasing salaries for the month of May, there was complete chaos outside the bus stand on Tuesday.
The passengers were a harried lot as the bus services got delayed due to the protest and they had to wait for the buses by standing on roadsides outside the bus stand. Also, traffic jams were witnessed outside the bus stand as most of the buses were operated from outside the stand, giving a tough time to the commuters and traffic police too.
As per the bus stand authorities, the movement of over 50 buses was disturbed due to the protest, which continued from 10 am till noon. The employees staged the protest near the entry gate of the inter-state bus terminal.
Meanwhile, the residents demanded that the employees should not disturb the movement of buses during their protest against the state government.
One of the passengers who was waiting for the bus to Bathinda outside the bus stand, Parminder Singh said that the employees should not harass the general public during their protest. Even the women passengers are forced to wait for buses by standing at the roadsides in the heat.
Another passenger, Vishal stated that these kinds of protests result in harassment of the public and a few ambulances also got stuck in the traffic jams, which was witnessed outside the bus stand due to the protest. The public should not be harassed as the entire schedule of a person is disturbed due to the delayed bus services.
Bus stand station supervisor Kuljit Singh Sodhi stated that the state department has to pay the salaries and the matter is being looked into at the state-level only.
Complete shutdown from June 23: Employees union
State general secretary of the Punjab Roadways/PRTC employees union Shamsher Singh stated that the contractual employees have been demanding regularisation of their jobs for a long time. But the department is now even delaying the payment of minimal salaries being given to the employees across the state. The bus stands across the state were shut down for two hours on Tuesday and the union will observe a complete shutdown from June 23 onwards if the government failed to release the salaries.
