CHANDIGARH: As the PRTC and Punbus Employees union refused to ferry more than 52 passengers on the buses, the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Partap Singh Bajwa on Sunday exhorted the Aam Aadmi Party-led Punjab government to add more buses to the fleet of state-run transport.
Senior Congress Leader, Bajwa said that the Employees Union of the PRTC and Punbus have been on strike against the central government's hit-and-run law. Meanwhile, they have refused to ferry more than 52 passengers on buses, which is the capacity of the buses. It has caused an absolute inconvenience to the commuters.
"The Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has been recklessly spending crores of rupees to ferry his master and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal on aircraft from one state to another. Apart from that the Punjab government has earmarked Rs 750 crore per annum budget for its publicity. However, it seems to have least bothered about the inconvenience faced by the people daily basis", Bajwa added.
The opposition leader said that it is illegal to ferry more than 52 passengers in the bus and the fine for each passenger more than the capacity is Rs 2000, yet, the overloaded buses are often seen on the road. Overloaded buses are one of the main causes of fatal road accidents and it is drivers, who bear the brunt of the same.
Bajwa said that despite the announcement, the AAP government failed to open 112 Aam Aadmi Clinics in the state on January 26 because the state has been reeling under the acute crisis of fund crunch.
"Meanwhile, it is high time the AAP government thought of spending wisely in the areas of utmost urgency like public health and convenience instead of squandering the state exchequer on the comfort of AAP's senior leadership and its fake publicity", Bajwa added.