Manmeet Singh Gill

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, November 16

The strike by the employees of Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS) has inconvenienced the general public, who had become accustomed to using the public transport system as buses were off roads for 48 hours.

The employees have resolved to continue the protest till they are paid salaries and benefits equal to those given to employees of Punbus. The employees staged a protest at the BRTS bus stand for the second consecutive day on Tuesday.

The Metro bus service running on the BRTS corridor started in the city around three years ago. Initially, it did not receive much response from the general public and buses were often seen empty. However, as the decision to slash fares was made, the public transport system witnessed immense response from the general public.

What other transport allows you to cover the entire length of the city in just Rs10? If using rickshaws, you need at least Rs40 to reach Chheharta from Verka, which can be covered in Rs10. —Jaswinder Singh, A factory worker at Chheharta

We were promised many things at the time of recruitment, but none of the promises have been fulfilled. Apart from 12% increment, we were promised help in case of accidents and deaths of employees. An employee is lying paralysed and at least three others have died while in service. —Davinder Singh, President, BRTS Employees' Ekta Association

At present, the Metro bus service had recorded a daily ridership of 55,000 to 60,000 passengers. Those employed for running the service alleged that at the time of recruitment, they were promised a 12 per cent hike in salaries annually.

They alleged that the salaries have not been increased even once in the last three years. The Metro bus service in the city has around 500 employees. Of these, around 220 are drivers who were recruited at a maximum salary of Rs10,700 per month. Others as managing the ticket counters or are in the support staff, who are paid even less.

After the recent reduction in fares, travelling in Metro buses became economical instead of travelling in auto-rickshaws. Davinder Singh, president, BRTS Employees’ Ekta Association, said: “We had been promised many things at the time of recruitment, but none of the promises have been fulfilled so far.” He said apart from 12 per cent increment, they were promised help in case of accidents and deaths of employees.

“One of our employees is lying paralysed and at least three others have died while in service,” he said, adding that they started their job during the tenure of Navjot Singh Sidhu, who was the Local Bodies Minister then, and hope that he would take up their matter with the state government. Sukhreet Kaur, a student who commutes from Verka Bypass Chowk to her school on Mall Road, said: “I, along with many other students, used to travel for free in the bus as students have been exempted from paying any fare. In the absence of it, I have to use an auto-rickshaw and shell out more.”

For working class people, the public transport had been a saviour as the maximum fare slab was reduced from Rs25 to Rs10. “What other transport allows you to cover the entire length of the city in just Rs10? If using rickshaws, you need at least Rs40 to reach Chheharta from Verka, which can be covered in Rs10,” said Jaswinder Singh, a factory worker at Chheharta.