Contractual employees of PRTC, Punjab Roadways begin strike, demand regularisation and addition of new buses

PATIALA: Demanding regularisation, the contractual employees of PRTC and Punjab Roadways commenced a strike today and declared that it will continue until January 8. The employees will demonstrate in front of the CM's residence in Sangrur or Chandigarh on Tuesday and Wednesday, as the venue decision is pending.
A total of 27 depots throughout the state will experience disruption during the strike. Harkesh Kumar Vicky, PRTC contractual employee union leader, indicated that 250 routes are affected in the Patiala depot alone and that on numerous routes, only government buses ply. Similarly, routes at each depot face disruption, though the numbers vary. He noted that 90 percent of the PRTC and Punbus staff operate on a contractual basis, leaving a large number of commuters in the lurch.
Around 7,500 employees serve on a contractual and outsourced basis, including more than 5,500 outsourced employees. The permanent staff of government buses will, nonetheless, maintain bus operations. The fleet comprises roughly 2,700 government buses of PRTC and Punbus. The union leaders demanded that outsourced employees be hired on a contractual basis while those working on a contractual basis be regularised.
The union leader disclosed that Rs 2.64 crore constitutes PRTC's daily receipt, while Rs 3 crore represents the daily receipt of Punbus. However, the strike will cause revenue loss to both PRTC and Punbus.
Besides regularisation, the protesting employees' union is demanding the addition of new buses to the PRTC and Punbus fleet, as they believe it could help PRTC enhance its revenue instead of paying the owners of the KM scheme buses.
Resham Singh, President of the PRTC-Punbus contractual employee union, said, "As per the state govt transport policy of 1986, govt and private buses need to be operated at a 70:30 ratio. However, currently, the buses are operating against this policy, as there are 70 percent private buses plying on the routes. Around 400 govt buses completed their 15 years of life in the last 3 years and are non-operating. However, the state govt failed to add any new buses to the govt fleet. It was only in 2021 when around 800 new buses were added to the govt fleet."
He added, "The contractual employees’ union strike has badly affected the operations of govt buses, as around 51 buses became operational by the regular staff on Monday. There are around 150 to 200 buses running under the KM scheme with PRTC, under which the bus owner is paid Rs 9.5 per km and earns an income of approximately Rs 1.25 crore in a period of 6 years of contract after paying only the driver’s salary. Against this, a new bus costing Rs 30 lakh can run for 15 years."