The strike by Haryana Roadways employees continued Sunday for the second day after talks between the employees' leaders and the state transport minister failed to resolve an issues.
Thousands of commuters continued to suffer across Haryana as the roadways staff continued their strike. People had to pay more to taxis and private bus operators who made the most of the strike.
Hundreds of Haryana Roadways buses did not come out of their stands and depots since Saturday.
Talks between Transport Minister Aftab Ahmed and leaders of the Haryana Roadways employees coordination committee could not reach a conclusion.
The committee has sought an immediate withdrawal of a move by the Haryana government to grant route permits to private bus operators. It has also demanded that the services of all the employees should be regularised.
The strike started from Kaithal town, 135 km from here, Saturday when a private bus tried to enter a bus stand there. It was not allowed to enter by Haryana Roadways staff. The strike soon spread to other places.
"We were always opposed to the 3,519 route permits given to private operators by the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government. Despite assurances, the Hooda government has initiated the move to grant the permits," said one of the striking leaders.
The Haryana Roadways has a fleet of over 3,900 buses which ferry nearly one million passengers daily. There are nearly 19,000 roadways staff in the state.
The roadways staff went for a four-day strike January 2014. They went on strike last year also.
Haryana goes for assembly polls next month and the code of conduct is likely to be announced by the Election Commission this week. The roadways employees are worried that the state government will not be able to accept their demands once the election code is announced.
