Ludhiana: Commuters hassled as PRTC contractual staff halt services for 2 hours
The stir at Ludhiana depot was part of a statewide stir over the union’s long-standing demands, including regularising 8,000 contractual workers, eliminating the contractor system and ensuring equal pay for equal work
Passengers were left stranded at the Amar Shaheed Sukhdev Interstate Bus Terminus as the Punjab Roadways/ Punbus/ PRTC contractual workers union went on a two-hour strike.
The stir was part of a statewide stir over the union’s long-standing demands, including regularising 8,000 contractual workers, eliminating the contractor system and ensuring equal pay for equal work. The services of over 250 state-owned buses at the terminus were suspended from 10 am to noon.
The union is pushing for fair salaries and to stop the private buses operating under the kilometre scheme.
The commuters were forced to rely on private buses, which they alleged were overcharging in view of the strike.
Bhoomi, a student travelling to Jalandhar, said,“I usually pay ₹85 but today, a private operator charged ₹100. I had no choice but to pay as I needed to visit a sick relative.”
Passengers said ticket prices for destinations like Patiala, Amritsar, Chandigarh and Bathinda were increased, with an average overcharging of ₹20 to ₹30.
The usually busy bus stand was relatively quiet during the strike while the area outside was chaos.
Private bus operators reportedly parked their vehicles haphazardly, causing traffic disruptions. A traffic cop, wishing not to be named, said private buses blocked the roads as passengers crowded the entrances, giving them a hard time to manage.
Union’s state general secretary Shamsher Singh Gill said the protest came after a ‘failed meeting’ with the state’s transport minister on October 22.
According to Gill, the chief minister promised the agitating workers during a July 1 meeting that their demands will be resolved within a month.
However, he said no progress has been made, leading to growing frustration among them.
Union leaders Resham Singh Gill and Jagtar Singh warned that if their demands are not addressed in the meeting scheduled for October 29, they will escalate the protests.
The union is planning to take out a flag march on November 3 in Barnala and Chabbewal to ‘expose the government’s failure to act’, union members said.