CHANDIGARH: Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring today expressed his party’s solidarity with the protesting staff of the Punjab Roadways.
He noted that the Aam Aadmi Party government was following into the footsteps of the Akali Dal government, which had hijacked the public transport system for the personal benefit of its leaders.
He condemned the brutal lathicharge on the staff by the Punjab Police at the behest of the Aam Aadmi Party government.
The PCC president also strongly condemned the manhandling of some journalists in Sangrur, where they were covering the protests by the Roadways employees.
He expressed shock over the government reaction towards the genuine demands of the Roadways employees. He stated that the employees have a genuine and justified apprehension that the AAP government was gradually moving towards the privatization of the Punjab Roadways by outsourcing buses from private operators.
Warring, who has served as the Transport Minister in the previous Congress government, recalled how he tried to bring the government transport back on track and prevent the monopoly and nexus between the government and some private transporters.
“It is shocking and shameful that the AAP government was trying to undo what we had done by trying to strengthen the government transport”, he said, while warning against putting the general public at the mercy of private transporters.
The PCC president reaffirmed and reiterated that the next Congress government will restore complete government control over the Punjab Roadways, as there was no public benefit by outsourcing buses from private transporters. “Does the AAP government want our transport department to manage the private transporters’ buses?” he asked.
Warring also supported other demands of the striking employees including the regularization of all contractual staff.