Punjab: Bus services resume as contractual employees call off strike

A member of the Punjab Roadways, PUNBUS and PRTC Contract Workers Union said they have been assured by the government officials that those union members who were apprehended during the agitation last November would be released. The contractual employees went on strike on Wednesday protesting against the non-release of union members and also privatization of bus service through the kilometer scheme.

In a relief to commuters, contractual employees of the state-owned Punjab Roadways, PUNBUS and PRTC on Thursday called off their strike after talks with state government officials. A member of the Punjab Roadways, PUNBUS and PRTC Contract Workers Union said they have been assured by the government officials that those union members who were apprehended during the agitation last November would be released. The contractual employees went on strike on Wednesday protesting against the non-release of union members and also privatization of bus service through the kilometer scheme. The strike had hit the bus services across Punjab, causing hardships to passengers. Union member Shahmsher Singh Dhillon said they have suspended their strike following an assurance that their union members would be released. Earlier in the day, the union's state president, Resham Singh Gill, alleged that the Punjab government was pushing privatisation in various departments and was not addressing long-pending demands of employees, including the regularisation of contractual staff. He also claimed that several workers were booked under stringent provisions during the November protest against the induction of private buses into the state transport sector. Dhillon said they were demanding the release of their colleagues lodged in jail, reinstatement of workers taken off duty, removal of contractors, pay parity and the addition of more government buses. He alleged that more workers were detained on Thursday when the union planned to intensify protests for the release of jailed colleagues.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)