Haryana Roadways services remained severely disrupted in Hisar, Hansi and Sirsa on Monday as employees continued their agitation over pending overtime payments, night duty allowances, leave travel concession (LTC), travel allowances and medical reimbursements, causing inconvenience to thousands of passengers.
Employees under the Haryana Roadways Joint Struggle Committee staged a protest at the depot, raised slogans against the government and officials. They also claimed that kilometre-scheme buses would remain off the roads and employees engaged through the Haryana Kaushal Rojgar Nigam were supporting the agitation. They have claimed that daily allowances and medical allowances have not been paid for the past three to four years.
At Hansi, all 72 buses remained grounded for the third consecutive day. Committee member Manjeet Sorkhi said the employees were awaiting clearance of travel allowance bills for 2023 and 2024, 13 medical bills, LTC claims and overtime dues pending since April. The management sought time until December 2 to clear the dues, but employees rejected the assurance. Union representative Suresh Nehra said employees at Hisar had been protesting since October 31 and warned that any action against protesting employees in Hisar or Sirsa would prompt workers to shut the gates of the Rohtak depot and join the strike. He said the transport minister had sought a month’s time to address the demands during talks on September 8, but more than a month and a half had passed without a resolution. There are also some pending TA bills pertaining to 2024-25, which we have forwarded to the headquarters for approval”.
He said the employees had been submitting memorandums to the authorities since September, but their grievances remained unaddressed. Morcha representative Chiman Lal Swami said a delegation met the Sirsa general manager over the pending payments. The employees said their demands included overtime payments, night duty allowances, leave travel concession, travelling allowance bills and medical reimbursements. The unions said the protests could spread to more depots across Haryana if the government failed to resolve the outstanding payment issues. Talking to media persons, general manager Haryana Roadways Sirsa Ajay Dalal said, “We again invited the employees’ negotiation committee for talks to find an amicable solution.
