587 BUSES OF PUNBUS TO BE MERGED IN PUNJAB ROADWAYS

Chandigarh, May 18:

          To reinstate the old glory of Punjab Roadways, the backbone of Punjab Transport department, the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann led Punjab Government has decided to merge debt-free buses of PUNBUS in Punjab Roadways. After merging around 587 buses of PUNBUS, the Punjab Roadways will have a fleet of 790 buses.

          The Cabinet Sub Committee comprising of Finance Minister Advocate Harpal Singh Cheema, Employment Generation Minister Mr. Aman Arora, Transport Minister Mr. Laljit Singh Bhullar and Health Minister Dr. Balbir Singh on Thursday asked the Transport department to expedite the process of merging the debt-free buses in Punjab Roadways.

          During the meeting with representatives of Punjab Roadways/ PUNBUS State Transport Workers Union here at Punjab Bhawan, the Sub Committee also directed the department officials to conduct regular checks of government buses and ensure that any passenger found without ticket should be charged ten times of the fare and punished as per rules. They also asked the department to ensure that all the government buses should stop at their scheduled bus stops so that commuters, especially women, should not face any hardship.

          Lending the sympathetic ear to representatives of Punjab Roadways/ PUNBUS State Transport Workers Union, the Cabinet Ministers assured that their legitimate demands are under consideration and a decision will be taken soon in this regard. Every possible step is being taken to ramp up the public transport system of the Punjab Government to further improve travel facilities.

          Secretary Transport Mr. Dilraj Singh Sandhanwalia, Director Transport Ms Amandeep Kaur and other senior officials of the department were also present in the meeting.