Commuters at Amar Shaheed Sukhdev Interstate Bus Terminal were a harried lot after Punjab Roadways (Punbus) contractual employees went on a strike and closed the bus stand for around two hours on Monday. The protesters were seeking regularisation of the contractual employees.
Chaotic scenes were witnessed outside the bus stand as private bus operators continued their services from there due to which the traffic movement was also disturbed in the area.
As per the officials, the protest slammed brakes on the movement of around 200 buses, including public and private.
The passengers, especially women who avail the free-travel facility in government buses, were troubled as they had to wait for the public bus service to resume.
Gurjit Kaur, who was traveling from Jalandhar to Sangrur, said, “I took a roadways bus to Ludhiana from Jalandhar at around 10:30 am. I had to change the bus from Ludhiana but got stuck here due to the strike. I have been waiting for the roadways bus for over an hour as I will not get a free travel facility in private buses.”
The passengers rued that the employees should protest for their rights but should not harass the public.
{{/usCountry}}The passengers rued that the employees should protest for their rights but should not harass the public.
{{/usCountry}}Ravi, a passenger who was waiting for a bus to Bathinda, said they had been waiting for the roadways bus service to resume for around half an hour as the private bus operators were charging extra fare from them, taking advantage of the situation.
Meanwhile, members of Punbus roadways/Punbus contractual employees stated that they were forced to raise agitation as the government had failed to fulfill their demands.
Shamsher Singh, district president of the union, said, “Meetings have been held at state-level but, the government has failed to fulfill our demands including regularisation of contractual employees, increase the number of buses and tighten noose around transport mafia. If the government still fails to fulfill our demands, then we will again go on strike on August 3 and 4 and keep the bus stands closed across the state.”
Tarsem Singh, sub-inspector of Punjab roadways, said the movement of around 200 buses, including government and private, was disturbed due to the two-hour strike.