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Chaos in Haryana as roadways staff go on 4-day strike
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 20
Haryana Roadways buses went off the road on the first day of the four-day strike that started today. The strike was complete, but peaceful, reports said.

Beginning tomorrow, all other public utility services will be affected when over two lakh employees of various departments of the Haryana Government start their three-day strike.

According to reports from various parts of the state, the entire fleet of 4,000 Haryana Roadways buses remained off roads as 18,000 roadways employees struck work.

They are demanding regularisation of services of contractual and part-time employees, filling of vacancies and cancellation of 3,519 permits to private bus operators.

The strike by other employees beginning tomorrow will impact power utilities, water, health, public health and other civic amenities, besides bringing work in government offices to a halt. The state has imposed Section 144 CrPC to prevent the agitation from turning violent. Director General of Police SN Vashist held a meeting with Transport Minister Aftab Ahmed to review the situation.

Seven rounds of talks between the state government officials, led by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Randeep Surjewala and Ahmed, had failed yesterday. No fresh move has been initiated by the government to end the roadways strike or the three-day general strike beginning tomorrow.

General Secretary of the Haryana Karamchari (employees) Coordination Committee Subhash Lamba said, "By imposing Section 144, the state government instead of inviting employees for talks has created a situation of direct clash with the employees". As the state-owned buses remained inoperative, private buses and other transport operators fleeced lakhs of people who use public transport for commuting to work.

Reports from almost all districts said that the harassed people had to pay through their nose to reach their destinations. The situation is unlikely to change over the next three days. Haryana Roadways Jhajjar depot claimed that it managed to ply 13 out of the 140 buses owned by the government on various routes.

A report from Karnal said 22 buses left for their destinations after Duty Magistrate-cum-Tehsildar Hari Om Attri, GM Roadways Jaipal Rana and police provided various supportive logistics. Similarly, a report from Gurgaon said that 40 buses of that depot operated as usual, but the striking employees rebutted the claim.

Haryana Roadways employees’ union leader Dalbir Kirmara said in Hisar that even while roadways employees abstained from work, they did not obstruct the plying of private vehicles.