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Passengers suffer as Punjab Roadways staff go on strike in Ludhiana
Left at the mercy of private operators, as drivers protested against illegal movement of inter-state buses by unauthorised companies.
Passengers at the Ludhiana inter-state bus terminal (ISBT) were a harried lot on Monday, as the joint action committee of Punjab Roadways and PRTC contractual workers observed a strike for two hours to protest against private operators plying inter-state buses illegally.
As the bus drivers and conductors protested from 10.30am to 12.30pm, hitting the movement of over 120 inter-state and inter-district buses, passengers were left at the mercy of private operators.
PRTC and Punbus services came to a halt completely for two hours, as the protesters closed the gates of the bus stand, forcing private bus operators to provide their services from outside the premises.
“My mother and I had to travel to Delhi and were forced to buy more expensive tickets through a private operator after waiting for over 90 minutes for the roadways bus to depart,” said Nitish, one of the affected passengers.
Similarly, Gurpreet Singh, who was on his way to Moga, said when he reached the bus stand around 11am, he got to know about the strike and could not get a certain answer on when the buses will resume their services.
The protesting contractual staff complained that the authorities, including the roadways and district transport departments, had failed to take action against the private transport mafia, even when unauthorised private buses remained parked right outside the bus stand.
The protest was lifted after two hours following an assurance by the roadways and transport department officials of taking action against bus operators plying inter-state buses illegally.
“The private bus operators have installed their counters right outside the bus stand and lure passengers even before they enter the ISBT. But the authorities have turned a blind eye to the issue, even when it is resulting in losses to the transport sector. We will organise a protest march from the ISBT to Bharat Nagar Chowk on December 2 if the authorities don’t act by then,” said Shamsher Singh, district president of Punbus Contractual Employees’ Union.
Station supervisor Jasvir Singh said movement of over 120 buses was hit due to the protest. “The demands of the union are justified and we will recommend action to the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) office, as roadways cannot do anything about the buses parked outside the ISBT,” he added.
Private bus headed to Delhi stopped
High drama was witnessed outside the bus stand after the protesters stopped a private bus headed to Delhi.
While the union members slammed the authorities for taking no action against the bus operator, station supervisor Jasvir Singh said they had clicked pictures and will send their recommendations to the RTA office.
Services to be hit again on November 26
The joint action committee of the Punjab Roadways and PRTC contractual workers has also extended its support to the November 26 “Delhi Chalo” protest by farmers against the farm bills. Therefore, there will be no movement of buses on Thursday, said Jasvir.
