Patiala: Hundreds of contractual and outsourced employees of Punjab Roadways, PUNBUS and Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) on Saturday announced an indefinite statewide strike from Sept 22, accusing the Punjab govt of failing to regularise their services and end the contractor system.Resham Singh Gill, state president of the Punjab Roadways, PUNBUS/PRTC Contract Workers’ Union (25/11), claimed that no transport employee had been regularised despite more than 60 meetings with the govt.Union general secretary Shamsher Singh Dhillon and senior vice-president Harkesh Kumar Vicky alleged that the ‘Kilometre Scheme’ promoted privatisation at the expense of the state-owned fleet and jobs for local youth.They claimed nearly 800 state-owned buses had been condemned during the current govt’s tenure without adequate replacements. Around 400 ordinary buses and 35 Volvo buses were off the road for want of spare parts, tyres and batteries, leading to route cancellations and benefiting private operators, they alleged.The union questioned the induction of only 696 buses, claiming the state-owned fleet continued to face an acute shortage.Union leaders demanded the unconditional withdrawal of what they termed “unjustified police cases” against protesting workers. They also alleged non-compliance with Punjab and Haryana high court directions on regularisation and equal pay for equal work, besides irregularities in EPF and ESI deductions by contractors.They claimed assurances by a ministerial committee headed by finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema to frame a policy for shifting outsourced workers to direct govt contracts had not materialised.The union threatened to halt state-run bus services and stage sit-ins outside the residences of chief minister Bhagwant Mann and the transport minister if its demands were not addressed before Sept 22. It also announced a boycott of ruling-party rallies and an awareness campaign against govt policies.
