Bus services affected in Haryana as roadways staff join nationwide strike

The joint forum claimed that 15,000 employees of Haryana Roadways participated in the strike bringing to halt nearly 2,400 buses of the Public Sector Undertaking (PSU).

Sarbat Singh Punia, a leader of the joint front of 10 unions of roadways employees, said that “in all the depots bus services are suspended”. “Only a few buses, which are run under the kilometre scheme, were operated in the morning in Narnaul, Jhajjar and Chandigarh depots. Our roadways employees are observing a complete strike,” he said.

The forum claimed it was the biggest strike by Roadways employees after 2018.

The state had witnessed an 18-day strike by Roadways employees in 2018 to oppose a government move aimed to run private buses under the kilometre scheme. The government officials have been stating that the scheme had been introduced to bridge the gap of demand and supply adding that the current fleet can’t meet the requirements of the passengers.

However, the employee leaders had then suggested the government to add 14,000 more buses to the Roadways fleet, claiming that it would offer employment to 84,000 youths.

Despite opposition by the employee bodies, the government had opted for the kilomtere scheme.

Punia alleged that the BJP-JJP alliance government was not strengthening the Roadways fleet. “This indicates their intent to promote privatisation of the transport services. There were 4,200 buses in the Haryana Roadways fleet about six years back, which have been reduced to 2,600 now and route permits are given to promote private buses. Haryana Roadways needs at least 10,000 buses in its fleet but the government is not paying heed,” he claimed.

Meanwhile, Subhash Lamba and Satish Sethi, the leaders of Sarv Karamchari Sangh claimed that the strike call evoked good response from employees of all the departments in Haryana.

The authorities, meanwhile, have chalked out a plan to keep the buses moving.

A senior officer told The Indian Express that in most of the districts, the buses had been sent to the police lines to prevent protesters from halting the normal services during the strike period. “From the police lines, the buses will be playing on the roads as per their schedule as we were anticipating the protesters may try to create disturbances at the bus stands. Except Ambala, Hisar, Fatehabad, Sirsa and Faridabad, we are not anticipating any impact of the strike. Three Roadways employees’ unions have also announced not to participate in the strike,” the officer said.

In some districts, prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC were imposed to maintain law and order during the strike under which a ban has been imposed on the gathering of five or more persons in a 200-metre area of the bus stands, officials said.