Haryana Roadways employees extend strike till Nov 2 against private buses

The Haryana Roadways employees protesting for the last 14 days decided Monday to extend their strike till November 2 against the state government's decision to run 700 private buses.

The stir has hit public transport services despite the state government making alternate arrangements including appointing drivers and conductors and hiring buses from other sources.

Expressing solidarity, government employees across Haryana have decided to go on a two-day strike starting October 30. Hundreds of state government employees had gone on mass casual leave on Friday to extend support to the roadways employees on strike since October 16.

On Sunday, the Sarv Karamchari Sangh's coordination committee, at a meeting here, announced that various employees unions have lend their support to the roadways employees.

Some khaps too extended their support to the roadways employees.

Leader of Opposition Abhay Singh Chautala hit out at the state government on the issue.

He said, "The apathy of the government in holding meaningful dialogue with the roadways unions is designed to further the agenda of privatisation, which is regrettable".

He said it was not too late to hold discussions with the roadways employees.

The Haryana Roadways employees had Thursday decided to further extend their strike till October 29 as their freshround of talks with the government failed to make any headway.

The employees are on strike since October 16 against the government's decision to hire 700 buses from private owners.

There are about 19,000 employees in the Haryana Roadways.

The roadways, having a fleet of 4,100 buses, cater to about 120 million passengers daily.