Hoshiarpur/Kapurthala (Pb), Jul 9 (PTI) Contractual employees of the state-owned Punjab Roadways and Pepsu Road Transportation Corporation began a three-day strike on Wednesday to press their demands, including regularisation of their jobs.

Many passengers, who were unaware of the strike call, faced inconvenience at various bus stands in the state and were delayed to their respective destinations.

Over 2,500 buses of Punjab Roadways and Pepsu Road Transportation Corporation (PRTC) stayed off the roads, the protesting employees said.

The strike was called by the Punjab Roadways, Punbus, PRTC Contract Workers' Union to press the state government to accept their long pending demands of regularisation of jobs of contractual drivers and conductors, abolition of contract-based hiring and induction of new buses.

The protesters held demonstrations at bus depots in the state, demanding that the state government accept their demands.

Many passengers were left stranded at bus stands, with some forced to wait for hours or opt for overcrowded private buses.

In Hoshiarpur, Davinder Kumar (66), a resident of Bane Di Hatti near Gagret in Himachal Pradesh, said he arrived with his wife on a Himachal Road Transport Corporation bus this morning, intending to board a government bus to Gurdaspur.

He was unaware of the strike by the Punjab government buses and had been waiting at the bus stand for over an hour, hoping to catch another government bus to Gurdaspur.

"I prefer to travel in government buses, but after coming to know about the strike, I had no option but to board a packed private bus," he said, adding that he was on his way to Gurdaspur to offer prayers on the occasion of Guru Purnima.

Vishal (21), a resident of Dasuya who works in Chandigarh and was visiting home on a short leave, also expressed his frustration.

He said he had reached Hoshiarpur from Dasuya this morning in a private bus. "I've been waiting here at the bus stand for nearly an hour, but not a single private bus to Chandigarh has arrived yet," he said.

"With government buses remaining off the roads, I have no other alternative but to rely on a private bus, whenever it comes." Private bus operators were seen doing brisk business as the absence of government-run buses led to a surge in demand on several routes.

At the Sangrur bus stand, a passenger working in a private bank said he waited for a bus for over an hour to go to his office in Patiala.

A representative of the Union said they had given notice about the strike a month ago.

Meanwhile, members of the Punjab Subordinate Services Federation, led by Satish Rana, and the Punjab Roadways PUNBUS and PRTC Contract Workers Union, led by its president Raminder Singh, held a sit-in at a bus stand in support of their demands and to protest against the new labour codes.

Speaking during the protest, Raminder Singh said the strike was aimed at pressing long-pending demands, including regularisation of contractual workers in Punjab Roadways, PUNBUS and PRTC.

In a separate protest, hundreds of workers affiliated with the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), led by general secretary Mohinder Singh Badoan, took out a march from Green View Park to the bus stand and held a dharna, raising slogans against the central and state governments.

In Kapurthala, nearly 200 protesters affiliated to various trade unions and Samyukt Kissan Morcha blocked vehicular traffic near the bus stand. They held a sit-in in the middle of the Kapurthala-Jalandhar road in support of their demands.

The central trade unions such as CITU, INTUC and AITUC are pressing for doing away with the four labour codes, contractualisation, and privatisation of PSUs.

They are seeking an increase in minimum wages to Rs 26,000 per month and pressing for the demands of farmer organisations for Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops based on the Swaminathan Commission's formula of C2 plus 50 per cent and loan waiver. PTI COR CHS RT

Regularisation of contractual workers sought in statewide bus strike disrupting services and protesting new labour codes. Regularisation of contractual workers and abolition of contract-based hiring are the core issues behind a three-day strike by Punjab Roadways, PUNBUS and PRTC employees. After serving advance notice, unions removed over 2,500 state-run buses from service, causing major disruption to passengers; protesters held demonstrations, sit-ins and road blockades asking the government to accept demands including induction of new buses. The strike also reflected coordinated union opposition to new labour codes and concurrent demands for higher minimum wages and agricultural price and debt-relief measures.