Chandigarh: Several contractual employees of the state-owned Punjab Roadways and Punbus on Saturday blocked traffic on the Chandigarh-Kharar highway in protest against the alleged "outsourcing" of the hiring process by the state transport department. The over two-hour road blockade caused inconvenience to commuters as there were massive traffic jams on the highway and the neighbouring routes.
Protesting employees parked buses on the highway to block the movement of vehicles and shouted slogans against the state government. Punjab Roadways, Punbus, PRTC Contract Workers' Union president Resham Singh Gill said the contractual employees were protesting against the state government's decision of hiring drivers through outsourcing.
Gill said the government should have undertaken recruitment through the regular process. He said that the AAP government had been claiming that contractual employees were being regularised and recruitment through outsourcing would not be done. "But the transport department was hiring drivers through outsourcing and was offering just Rs 9,100 per month salary," he alleged.
During the road blockade, there was a long queue of vehicles on the highway. had to go to Una and got stuck in the traffic jam because of the protest, said a man from Himachal Pradesh who came to Chandigarh along with his family for some work. The internal roads in Mohali's Kharar also saw heavy traffic as commuters looked for alternative routes to reach their destinations.
The protest was later called off by the contractual employees after they were assured of a meeting with the transport minister on October 11, said Gill. He said protests were also held in Jalandhar and Amritsar. (PTI)
