Gurugram: To drum up support for the expansion of the public transport system in both urban and rural areas of the state, the Haryana Roadways employees and their syndicates have embarked on a signature campaign.
During this three-day campaign, the employees - under the banner of a united front launched earlier this year - set up service desks at various public places across the state on Wednesday to garner support from local residents for their demands for the expansion of the state public transport fleet and improvement of the services offered to commuters.
According to the Roadways employees, the state needs around 14,000 buses based on the current population and demand. However, the Roadways currently has a fleet of 4,200 buses of which around 2,500 are operational at the moment. The bus fleet was reduced during Covid due to a sharp plunge in demand.
Sudhir Ahlawat, district head of Haryana Roadways Sanyukt Karamchari Sangh, said, "The state government is hell bent on privatising the Roadways instead of finding a workable solution to increase the fleet and revenues. With fuel prices making travelling costlier on private buses, there's a further surge in demand for state buses. There are new routes that can be opened and the existing buses can be revamped."
After the signature campaign, the employees will gherao the office of the transport department to press for their demands.
"On June 8, we will take all these signed documents, along with our memorandum, and march towards the state transport department office. We will hand over these documents to the department officials and ask them to give us an assurance to fulfill these demands in a time-bound manner," said Haryana Roadways Workers Union general secretary Sarbat Punia.
