Haryana Roadways employees to go on strike on Tuesday

The roadways employees had earlier gone on a three-day strike in April.

Chandigarh, June 12: The Haryana Roadways Employees Union has decided to go on a one-day strike on Tuesday protesting against the state government's policy of granting permits to private operators.

The strike will inconvenience thousands of commuters who depend on Haryana Roadways buses for commuting.

"We are protesting the government's policy of granting permits to private operators. The government is planning to privatise the roadways," Haryana Roadways Workers Union, president, Sarbat Singh Punia said.

He said the strike will start tomorrow morning and Haryana Roadways buses from all 24 depots will remain off the roads.

"We don't want to put common people to inconvenience, but people will understand that what we are doing is in everybody's larger interest," Punia said.

The roadways employees had earlier gone on a three-day strike in April.

"The government is promoting privatisation, which is not acceptable. We demand cancellation of permits given to private operators to ply buses on some routes," he said.

Punia said that there were 4,000 buses in the Haryana Roadways fleet.

"There is also shortage of drivers and conductors. We need 16,000 buses to cater to the 2.5 crore population of Haryana. Rather than thinking to privatise the roadways, the government should think of adding more buses and improving the services. There is no demand to privatise roadways from the people of Haryana, so why should the government show haste," he said.

Asked how long will their strike continue, Punia said, "we will see the government's response tomorrow and then decide if we need to extend our stir or not".

PTI