New Delhi, Sep 18: With no solution in sight, the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses remained off the roads on Friday, as the strike by drivers over daily-wage hikes, medical facilities and overtime payment entered its fourth day.
Despite assurances from the Delhi government, drivers continued their protests, causing inconvenience to daily commuters.
"There are far fewer buses on the roads. Hopefully, the situation is resolved soon; the cost of auto-rickshaws has also increased due to the strike," a commuter said.
Earlier, transport minister Pankaj Singh appealed to drivers to withdraw the strike as most of their demands have been assured by private concessionaires.
However, due to the lack of assurance from the private companies on the hike in bus drivers' salaries, the strike did not end.
"We have stated our demands regarding the salary hike; the current pay is not feasible. There was a meeting earlier, but no solution was found; hence we are continuing the strike," said Sonu Beniwal, one of the protesting drivers.
According to the drivers and conductors, they are operating DTC buses for a wage of Rs 862 per day, out of which Rs 60 goes towards provident fund and the remaining is left for the entire month.
"The minimum wage fixed by the Delhi government for DTC contractual drivers is as per the pay scale set by the government; we are only demanding that we should also be given the salary at par. There is also no medical cover and leave for us," another driver said.
Drivers at several bus depots, including Nand Nagri, Rani Khera, Rajghat, Nehru Place, Burari, Wazirpur, Ghumanhera, Sarita Vihar and several other bus depots were on strike for the fourth day.
