AAP extends support to agitating drivers, conductors

NEW DELHI: Extending support to agitating drivers and conductors of cluster buses, Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal today promised to abolish the contract labour system if his party was voted to power.

Demanding better work condition, more than 500 drivers and conductors of cluster buses (orange) have been staging dharna at Jantar Mantar for last seven days.

Kejriwal said that being employed on a contractual basis, these drivers and contractors were exploited and not given benefits like medical (ESIC) and EPF which they should have received.

He said the Sheila Dikshit government which boasts of providing non-stop bus service to Delhiites has turned a deaf ear to the problems faced by these workers, who are mostly employed on a contract basis.

The agitators told Kejriwal that the company which employed them had siphoned off their security money.

They claimed that the new companies that are bidding for contracts do not have adequate licenses to hire them.

According to the protesters, the Delhi government despite being aware of all such facts was engaging these companies.

Moreover, they also said that even though their duty mandates them to work for eight hours only, they are often made to work for 16 hours and not paid overtime.