Muktsar, June 6

The contractual employees of the Punjab Roadways and PRTC today staged a protest near Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal’s residence at Badal village here demanding regularisation of jobs.

We are surprised that when the state government has regularised the jobs of workers in other departments, what is wrong with us? - Kamal Kumar, Patron, Punbus Contractual Workers’ Union,

Though the protesters wanted to stage a dharna in front of Manpreet’s residence, the police stopped them a few metres away.

Kamal Kumar, patron, PUNBUS Contractual Workers’ Union, said they had recently met the transport minister, but to no avail. “Now we will go on strike from June 28 to 30. If the government did not announce our regularisation, we will go on an indefinite strike. We are surprised that when the state government has regularised the jobs of workers in other departments, what is wrong with us? We are getting meagre salaries and working for the past many years. A committee was formed about four-and-a-half-year ago to look into our demands, but it has not yet given the report.”— TNS