Punjab bus strike delayed by 2 days for NEET.

Ludhiana: Contractual bus workers have deferred their strike by two days to avoid disrupting students travelling for the national medical entrance examination, whom the govt has promised free transit.The public transport strike is now set to stall Punjab next week after contract workers issued a three-day strike ultimatum over failed wage reforms and creeping privatisation. The industrial action was scheduled originally for June 22.The Punjab Roadways Punbus and PRTC Contract Workers Union announced a complete shutdown of state-run bus services from June 24 to 26 if the state govt fails to address long-standing labor disputes.

The union, which represents all 27 transport depots across Punjab, finalised the strike parameters in a meeting at Isru Bhawan.Worker-union president Resham Singh Gill said four years into the current administration's term, no contractual transit employee had been transitioned to permanent roles, and no new state-owned buses added to the fleet.Instead, the union claims the transport department is moving toward privatisation through outsourced leasing schemes that favor private operators at the expense of public utility infrastructure.

State secretary of the worker union, Shamsher Singh Dhillon, said the govt has repeatedly reneged on written assurances regarding equal pay for equal work and the implementation of a structured employment policy for contract labourers. The union threatened to intensify its agitation if the upcoming three-day shutdown fails to yield a govt resolution.