The Delhi government has invoked the Haryana Essential Services Maintenance Act (HESMA), declaring Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and the Transport department’s Cluster Bus Scheme as essential services, prohibiting strikes and agitations by employees for six months.
This comes amid an ongoing agitation by contractual drivers that began on September 15 over wages and service conditions.DTC bus services have remained disrupted since when the protest started. During a hearing,the Delhi High Court on September 23 had asked the government why HESMA had not been invoked.
A notification issued by the home department on September 25, seen by HT, covers DTC and concessionaire employees deployed for operating DTC and cluster buses, including contractual and outsourced staff. It says the services are of “critical importance” to Delhi and that disruption has caused inconvenience and hardship to the public.
The order has been issued under Sections 3 and 4A of HESMA, as extended to Delhi, and will remain in force for six months from its publication in the official gazette. Under Section 4A, employees covered by such an order cannot go or remain on strike. A violation can have criminal consequences. Section 5 makes participation in, instigation of or acts in furtherance of an illegal strike an offence. Section 7 provides for imprisonment of up to three years and a fine upon conviction.
“The Act itself, however, does not prescribe dismissal or termination as a HESMA penalty. Any disciplinary or employment action against an employee would be governed separately by applicable service, contractual or departmental rules. DTC had already issued notices warning of departmental action against employees absent from duty during the agitation,” an official said.
{{/usCountry}}“The Act itself, however, does not prescribe dismissal or termination as a HESMA penalty. Any disciplinary or employment action against an employee would be governed separately by applicable service, contractual or departmental rules. DTC had already issued notices warning of departmental action against employees absent from duty during the agitation,” an official said.
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, the concessionaires have also terminated the services of over 500 contractual drivers from across five depots and asked them to report to the office instead of the depots they were assigned to. Officials said that DTC will be providing its drivers in place of the contractual ones till new drivers are employed or alternative arrangements are made.
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