Roadways contractual staff hold strike, passengers suffer

AMRITSAR, JUNE 27

Passengers had a harrowing experience with members of the Punjab Roadways, PUNBUS, PRTC Contract Workers’ Union holding a strike here on Tuesday. The strike also affected the bus service in the border district.

In the morning, a large number of passengers were seen sitting inside the ISBT waiting for the bus services to resume. Many of them were seen fanning themselves with newspapers and handkerchiefs to get relief from a hot and humid weather.

Woman passenger Ranjit Kaur, who had come along with her three children to board a bus at the ISBT, said she reached here after spending over Rs 100 in local transport. She said after taking time off her domestic chores and a small-time job, she managed to reach here. She said the state-run bus service was the preferred mode of transport for women as it offered free of cost travel to women. Now, she would have to come here some other day.

Harpreet Singh waiting with his family at the ISBT said staff at the ISBT was not aware when the strike would be cancelled and buses would resume plying on their routes. He said long-route passengers waiting for their buses would be greatly inconvenienced. They could return to their destinations from here.

Over 250 buses belonging to the Punbus and Punjab Roadways were off the roads till late in the afternoon. Kewal Singh, a local leader of the union, said the strike was enforced at 12 in the midnight and was called off at 3.30 pm after their state union leader conveyed that the government accepted their demands in the second round of the meeting.

He said they received the call for calling off the strike at nearly 3.30 pm and that it would take half an hour to resume bus operations.

He said the union was not responsible for the inconvenience caused to passengers as their leaders had sent a notice of strike to the Director, State Transport (Chandigarh), about a fortnight ago. Despite the notice, they did not pay any heed to their demands.