State-run bus services were badly affected in Punjab and Haryana following the nationwide strike by trade unions on Friday. There were no reports of violence in both the states.
The strike left thousands of passengers in the lurch. Water and electricity supply was not affected in the states though their employees joined the protests.
The impact of the shutdown was seen more in Haryana as state roadway buses in most of the districts remained off the roads. Employees of Punjab Roadways also joined the strike and stopped plying buses.
In Chandigarh over 2,000 nurses of the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research also joined the strike on the call of the All India Government Nurses Federation.
Haryana Transport Minister Krishan Lal Panwar told reporters in Chandigarh that all demands of the employees were accepted in advance and their participation in the strike was not right.
He claimed that there was a mixed response to the call for strike throughout the state.
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"Since morning more than 50 percent buses, which is 1,600, have been plying on normal routes and the remaining buses started plying by afternoon. Besides, the department plied additional 850 private buses to facilitate the commuters," he said.
Countering the minister's claims, Haryana Roadways union leader Dharamvir Hooda said that there was complete shutdown across the state.
He said police had taken more than 20 leaders, including union's president Sarbat Singh Punia, into preventive custody in Fatehabad ahead of the strike.
--IANS
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