Chandigarh, June 10: Public transport services across the state returned to normal today after Punjab Roadways and Punbus employees called off their indefinite strike following a successful meeting with Transport Secretary Varun Roojam. The abrupt protest had threatened to disrupt commuting across the region as contractual drivers and conductors from the Pepsu Road Transport Corporation asserted their plans to join the agitation.
Representatives of the Punjab Roadways, Punbus and PRTC Contract Workers Union (Punjab) entered discussions to address grievances regarding the induction of private buses into the state fleet under the kilometre scheme. The union had initially planned a three-day protest for later in the month but advanced the timeline after the government flagged off new private Volvo buses for the Delhi Airport route from Chandigarh.
“The strike, which was originally scheduled from June 22 to 24, was advanced when Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema flagged off five Volvo buses operating under the Punbus kilometre scheme for the Delhi Airport route from Chandigarh on Tuesday,” Bikram Singh, head of the union in Jalandhar depot 1, affirmed.
Union members maintained that previous deliberations with administration officials included commitments to review the operational structure of the transport sector. The employees declared that public transport should be expanded by adding state-owned vehicles and filling administrative vacancies rather than engaging private operators.
The contractual staff continues to seek long-term administrative resolutions regarding service regularisation, uniform pay structures, and the reinstatement of previously dismissed personnel. Representatives from the Sangrur depot also noted that the welfare of outsourced workers and the legal status of ten detained union members remain central to their ongoing dialogue with the transport department.
