People of Punjab may face difficulty in commuting from April 7 to April 9, because Punjab Roadways Panbus / PRTC Contract Workers Union has given an ultimatum to the government that if their demands are not met in a month, then they will stop the movement of buses. While from March 13, the employees will start protests at their district level, for which a complete schedule has been prepared.
This decision was taken in the emergency meeting of the employees. They argued that they do not want the common people to face trouble, but due to the government not listening to them, they have been forced to take this step. During this time, bus service will be affected on 577 routes. PRTC has more than 1200 buses. While about 400 new buses are going to come.
Even after meeting with the CM, the matter could not be resolved
The meeting of the employees was held under the leadership of Punjab Roadways Panbus / PRTC Contract Workers Union and State President Resham Singh. Senior Pradhan Harkesh Kumar Vicky and Gurpreet Singh Pannu said that on July 1, 2024, the Chief Minister of Punjab had assured to resolve the demands of the transport workers within a month. But now 7-8 months have passed and no concrete decision has been taken.
A committee was also formed, and after this the Transport Minister of Punjab also assured to resolve the demands soon. Contract employees will be regularized under a separate policy of the Transport Department. The union had also submitted all the documents related to the permanentization of employees in neighboring states to the committee.
Policy of neighboring states handed over to the government
After the strike, the Transport Minister of Punjab had held a meeting with the Advocate General, in which the Advocate General had assured that soon a policy would be prepared by the department and it would be passed in the cabinet meeting and implemented. But till now the officials of the department have not informed the union about this policy and obstacles are also being created in implementing the demands accepted by the government. The orders of the Chief Minister are being disregarded, due to which there is a lot of anger among the employees.
Now the struggle will go on like this
March 13 – Employees will be mobilized by holding gate rallies in all the depots of Punjab and protests will be held against the government and management.
March 19 – A sit-in will be held outside the PRTC headquarters in Patiala.
March 26 – The policies of the officers will be exposed by protesting outside the headquarters in Chandigarh.
April 3 – All bus stands will be closed across Punjab and a sit-in will be held.
Note – Even then the government does not find a solution, then on 7, 8 and 9 April 2025, there will be a wheel jam of government buses across Punjab.