CHANDIGARH: With 14 months to go for the Punjab Assembly elections, contractual employees of Punjab Roadways, PUNBUS and PRTC went on strike on Friday, crippling state-run bus services across the state and causing severe inconvenience to commuters. The workers accused the AAP-led government of ignoring long-pending demands and pushing the transport sector towards “systematic privatisation.”
The strike, organised by the Punjab Roadways, PUNBUS and PRTC Contract Workers' Union, escalated as the workers alleged that the police detained several union leaders late Thursday night and early Friday morning.
Protesters alleged that the government’s controversial Kilometre Scheme, under which tenders were scheduled to open on Friday, aims to allow private operators to run buses on government-notified routes, threatening thousands of jobs, and demanded the regularisation of contractual workers.
They claimed the policy favours private contractors and will jeopardise thousands of livelihoods in the transport sector. Their demands include the release of detained union leaders, induction of new buses and job security for contractual workers.
Violent and dramatic scenes unfolded in several districts. In Sangrur, a protesting employee reportedly poured petrol on himself in an attempted self-immolation, leaving a police officer with burn injuries while trying to intervene. In Mansa and Bathinda, employees climbed water tanks holding petrol cans, threatening self-immolation. In Hoshiarpur, employees blocked bus stand gates, while PUNBUS workers staged a dharna at the Punjab Roadways workshop.
Union leader Sukhdev Singh said, “In four years, not a single new bus has been added. They want to privatise routes and eliminate our jobs.” Another leader, Nachhattar Singh, said, “Police raided homes at 3 am. Even our children are terrified. This repression will not weaken us.”
Senior SKM leader Darshan Pal condemned the alleged overnight police raids at the residences of union leaders. He said the government should have held talks instead of detaining them. “The government celebrated the martyrdom day of Guru Tegh Bahadur just four days ago. He was a champion of human rights. And now the same government is forcibly detaining union leaders,” he said.
Bus services were hit across Patiala, Sangrur, Bathinda, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Mansa, and Kapurthala, forcing passengers to use private vehicles at higher fares. In Patiala, police used mild lathi charge, which protesters claimed led to torn clothes and tossed turbans
Union leaders, including Sukhjit Singh and Bhupinder Singh, condemned the detention of colleagues and asserted that contractual workers would not allow kilometre-based tenders to proceed. They demanded cancellation of the tenders and regularisation of all contractual workers.
Opposition parties hit out at the government over the unrest. Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring said the AAP government was following in the footsteps of the previous Akali Dal government, which, he alleged, had “hijacked” the public transport system for the personal benefit of its leaders. He condemned the lathicharge on protesting employees and said workers had genuine apprehensions that the government was moving towards privatisation of Punjab Roadways by outsourcing buses to private operators.
Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal also condemned the police action, alleging “desecration of turbans” during the lathicharge. He said the AAP government, which came to power in 2022 with “false promises,” had failed to fulfil its commitments, leading to widespread public anger. He said the SAD fully supported the workers’ struggle.
With state-run bus services disrupted, passengers were forced to rely on private transport. Women commuters, who usually benefit from the state’s free travel scheme on government buses, said they had no choice but to pay higher fares for private vehicles.