Chandigarh: The Punjab Roadways, PUNBUS and PRTC Contract Workers Union Punjab has deferred its proposed statewide protest after the Punjab government scheduled a panel-level meeting with the union on January 21 to discuss its pending demands.
Issuing a press statement after a state-level video conference meeting, union leaders including state founder Kamal Kumar, state chairman Balwinder Singh Rath, state president Resham Singh Gill, senior vice-president Harkesh Kumar Vicky, general secretary Shamsher Singh Dhillon, joint secretary Jagtar Singh, cashier Baljit Singh and Raman Deep Singh said cases were allegedly registered against union leaders and workers during recent agitations.
The union demanded immediate withdrawal of what it termed “unjust cases” and the release of workers who have been lodged in jail. Keeping the January 21 meeting in focus, the union held discussions with depot-level leaders through video conferencing and decided to postpone the indefinite sit-in that was scheduled to be held at Sangrur on January 17.
Meanwhile, vice-presidents Baljinder Singh Brar, Gurpreet Singh Pannu and Jagjit Singh Libbra, along with joint secretary Jalor Singh, said the PUNBUS and PRTC unions participated in joint protest programmes organised by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha, which comprises 91 organisations. As part of the programme, sit-ins were held outside Deputy Commissioner offices across various cities in Punjab.
During the joint protests, demonstrators raised demands against the Electricity Act, MGNREGA provisions, labour codes, privatisation of government departments, the Seed Bill and sought regularisation of contractual employees. Union leaders also said the Punjab Transport Minister had earlier assured them that all actions taken against workers during the agitation would be withdrawn at the earliest.
The government has now fixed the next round of talks for January 21, with the Transport Minister giving assurances to address the issues. Based on this assurance, the union said it has temporarily suspended its protest programmes.
However, the union warned that if the meeting fails to resolve the demands, cases are not withdrawn and employees who have been jailed for over 51 days are not released, it will convene an urgent statewide meeting in Chandigarh to announce the next phase of agitation. The union further cautioned that the movement would be intensified not only at the Punjab level but also jointly with transport unions from other states, holding the state government responsible for any disruption to services or inconvenience caused to the public.
