Ludhiana, July 10 -- Hundreds of passengers were left stranded at the Ludhiana bus stand after contractual workers of Punjab Roadways and PRTC ceased bus operations on Wednesday. The protesting workers staged a statewide strike under the banner of Punjab Roadways, Punbus and PRTC Contractual Workers' Union.

The union has been demanding job regularisation for around 8,200 contractual and outsourced drivers and conductors. It is also seeking abolition of contractual hirings, rollback of the PRTC Kilometre scheme and induction of new buses in the fleet.

Parveen Kumar, general secretary of the union in Ludhiana, said, "We have been on strike today across Punjab to push for our long-pending demands. The day marks a nationwide agitation by th...