Chandigarh, Nov. 18 -- Former Union minister Pawan Kumar Bansal has raised strong objections to the Chandigarh administration's recent move to discontinue the services of long-serving contractual employees across various departments, particularly in the Chandigarh Transport Undertaking (CTU).

In a letter to UT administrator Gulab Chand Kataria, Bansal highlighted that a large number of employees have been working on contract for several years in different wings of the administration. The situation, he said, is especially alarming in CTU, where several drivers and conductors have served for 10 to 15 years or more. Despite performing the same duties as regular employees, they continue to receive significantly lower salaries and limited ben...