A day after several contractual employees of state-owned bus services in Punjab were detained during protests against the opening of tenders related to the kilometre-based bus scheme, protestors in Ludhiana condemned the police action.
Senior Vice President of the PUNBUS Contract Workers Union in Hoshiarpur, Sandeep Singh, alleged that four of their leaders – state committee member Kulwant Singh, district president Raminder Singh, secretary Narinder Singh and cashier Dharminder Singh – were still detained.
“Until they are released, the kilometre-scheme tenders are cancelled, and contractual workers are regularised, our dharna and strike will continue,” he said.
“In the last four years, the government has not provided even a single new bus to Punjab Roadways. Over 500 old buses have gone off the road, and those still running face major repair issues. The department does not have funds even for tyres and essential repairs,” he claimed.
Bus services in parts of the state remained affected on Saturday as employees of the Punjab Roadways, Punjab State Bus Stand Management Company Limited (PUNBUS) and Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) continued their protest for the second day.