Contractual employees of Punjab Roadways and Pepsu Road Transportation Corporation began a three-day strike on Monday to press their demands, including regularisation of their jobs. Demonstrations are being held at all 27 bus depots across the state, he said.
Amid the agitation, commuters were left stranded at various bus stands across the state with around 2,800 buses of Punjab Roadways and Pepsu Road Transportation Corporation (PRTC) stayed off the roads.
Punjab Roadways, Punbus, PRTC Contract Workers' Union president Resham Singh Gill said around 8,000 contractual employees were participating in the strike.
Demonstrations were being held at all 27 bus depots around the state, he said.
The contractual employees have been seeking regularisation of their jobs and a salary hike, among other demands, Gill said.
The brunt of the strike was, however, borne by commuters.
Harbans Kaur (70) and her husband Darshan Singh (73) arrived at the Hoshiarpur bus stand to catch a state-owned bus to Ludhiana to visit a relative.
"We have been waiting for almost an hour but no government bus has arrived. We will wait a little longer and, if no government bus arrives, we will have no choice but to take a private bus, which is not free for women passengers," Harbans Kaur said.
Bhupinder Kaur (54), another commuter from Hoshiarpur, shared a similar experience.
She said she had been waiting for a government bus to Adda Saran near Tanda for over half an hour. "If no bus arrives soon, I will have to take a private bus." Women in Punjab generally prefer state-owned buses because of the free travel scheme.
In Ludhiana, there was no service -- especially for rural routes, including Machhiwara, Payal and Raikot.
However, some buses, with the help of regular staff, left the Ludhiana stand, officials said.
The contractual employees held protests at depots to express their displeasure over the non-acceptance of their demands. They also raised slogans against the Punjab government.
The protesters have called for increasing the Punjab Roadways and the PRTC fleet to 10,000.
Raminder Singh, president of the union's Hoshiarpur unit, said, "If the government doesn't meet our demands, we will have no option but to intensify our agitation." A few days ago, the union held a meeting with Transport Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar regarding its demands but a resolution could not be found, he said.
The protesters said they would march towards Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's residence on Tuesday as part of the protest.
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