Contractual DTC drivers and conductors are on strike in Delhi, demanding Rs 2,000 a day against the current Rs 862, plus medical and social-security benefits, a bonus and paid holidays, and thousands of buses have stayed off the road.
The government’s response contains the crux of the dispute. Transport Minister Pankaj Singh said certain benefits had already been approved, but the administration distinguished between direct DTC employees and those hired through private contractors.
That distinction matters because it decides who is responsible for what. A direct employee’s terms are set by the corporation. A contract worker’s terms are set by a contractor, and the corporation can say the pay and leave rules are not its to change.
The union’s answer is that the people driving DTC buses do the same work regardless of who pays them, which is why it is asking for a common wage and basic protections.
The dispute is a familiar one in public services: contracting can lower costs and add flexibility, but it also creates a group of workers whose conditions no one fully owns. Strikes tend to happen at exactly that gap.
Long queues were seen at bus stops, and some e-rickshaw drivers were asking Rs 15 to Rs 20 for distances of two to two and a half kilometres.
Delhi Metro added train services during peak hours as more commuters switched to it.
Transport Minister Pankaj Singh said the administration had already approved certain benefits, including medical facilities, leave compensation, additional kilometre payments and death assistance.
The government distinguished between direct DTC employees and those hired through private contractors.
Union president Lalit Chaudhary said the drivers were not asking for anything unreasonable and that the protest would continue until the demands were met.
Reports differed on the day count, with one report calling Friday the fourth day of the strike and another saying it entered its fifth day on Saturday.
DTC low-floor bus, Delhi (representative image), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0