Home / Business and Economy / Uttarakhand Bus Strike Halts Diwali Travel
Uttarakhand Bus Strike Halts Diwali Travel
30 Oct
Summary
- Public transport services in Uttarakhand are disrupted due to an indefinite strike.
- The strike impacts Diwali festive travel, affecting routes to major cities.
- The transport minister has called a high-level meeting to resolve the crisis.
Public transport services throughout Uttarakhand have ground to a halt starting Friday, as the Uttaranchal Roadways Employees' Union commenced an indefinite work boycott. This action follows a breakdown in talks between the union and the Uttarakhand Transport Corporation (UTC) management on Thursday evening.
The strike has created a significant operational crisis for Roadways buses, especially as it precedes the Diwali festive season. In response, the state government has initiated an intervention, with Transport Minister Pradeep Batra scheduling a high-level meeting for Saturday afternoon in Dehradun. The objective is to resolve the stalemate and address the workers' demands.
Discussions during the meeting will focus on the charter of demands submitted by employee organizations. These demands include key issues such as "equal pay for equal work," job regularisation, prompt salary disbursements, and adjustments to dearness allowance and honorariums for contractual staff. The union proceeded with the boycott as previously notified to management.
UTC management has issued strict directives to prevent unauthorised leave and warned of severe action against employees participating in the strike or obstructing bus movements. Despite these warnings, passenger services were heavily impacted on the first day, with numerous long-distance and regional routes cancelled, causing considerable inconvenience to travellers.
