The Fact News Service
Chandigarh, October 30
Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann-led government is preparing to deliver good news soon to drivers and conductors of government buses as Punjab Transport Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar, on Tuesday, instructed department officials to promptly prepare the case for regularizing government bus drivers and conductors so that it can be submitted for Cabinet approval.
During separate meetings at his official residence with representatives from the Punjab Roadways/PUNBUS and PRTC Contract Workers Union and the Punjab Roadways (PUNBUS) State Transport Workers Union, the Cabinet Minister directed officials to draft a policy for transitioning employees from outsourcing to contract and to prepare a special case for regularizing contract employees.
Bhullar also directed officials to address cases involving drivers and conductors facing departmental issues sympathetically and to ensure swift resolution of these cases.
The demand for 5% annual salary increment for new drivers and conductors was also discussed. The Cabinet Minister directed the officials to immediately formulate the SOP on this matter to provide prompt relief to the employees.
He said that Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann-led government is committed to resolving all legitimate demands of the employees. Hence, the Chief Minister has constituted a special departmental committee to address the issues faced by contractual drivers and conductors in Punjab Roadways/PUNBUS and PRTC, he added.
Besides this, in a significant decision, the Transport Minister also announced an increase in the night stay allowance for drivers and conductors. He informed the unions representatives that the allowance for night stays within the state will now increase from Rs.50 to Rs.85, while for out-of-state stays, the allowance has been raised from Rs.60 to Rs.120.
Prominent amongst others who were present in the meeting included Additional Chief Secretary Transport D.K. Tiwari, PUNBUS MD Rajeev Kumar Gupta, PRTC MD Bikramjit Singh Shergill, ADO PUNBUS Rajeev Datta, PRTC GM Maninder Singh.
