Haryana warns staff, bus service affected in strike

Normal life was disrupted in Haryana after state roadways buses stayed off the roads and lakhs of government employees went on strike Wednesday. The state government warned employees of action if they stayed off work.

Nearly 3.2 lakh employees of the state, especially of Haryana Roadways, municipal corporations, educational institutions, government departments and health institutions went on a two-day strike, starting Wednesday.

The state government, after issuing appeals to striking employees, later warned them to join work or face action.

Principal Secretary (Transport) R.R. Jowel said that a large number of Haryana Roadways employees remained on strike despite negotiations over their demands.

Jowel said that inconvenience has been caused to the public by the strike, and the state suffered loss of revenue running into several lakhs of rupees, for which the employees on strike are responsible.

He warned employees to return to their duties, failing which strict disciplinary action would be taken against them.

Transport Minister Aftab Ahmed also urged the staff to return to work and said the government would look into their demands.

The strike has been called by the Haryana Roadways Employees Union and the Haryana Sarv Karamchari Sangh.

The unions have put up their respective demands, including wages on central government pattern, regularisation of services of part-time and ad hoc staff, and policy for recruitment of staff.

The passengers, who were stranded at various bus stands, were the worst affected due to the strike.

People had to opt for private taxis, which made a killing by charging exorbitantly.

"No bus of the over 3,600-strong fleet of Haryana Roadways left any depot or bus stand," a union leader said.

Over 12 lakh passengers travel by Haryana Roadways buses daily. The round-the-clock Volvo bus services between Chandigarh and New Delhi are quite popular.

The Haryana Roadways staff has been demanding that the state government drop its move to grant licences for over 3,500 routes to private bus operators in the state.

Work in government offices was affected as well.

The Haryana government, which instructed all senior officers in the districts and various departments to take precautionary measures, had failed to break its deadlock with the unions Tuesday evening.

Haryana Chief Secretary P.K. Chaudhery also appealed to agitating employees to call off their strike.