Roadways Employees Strike, Workers Registration & Cancer Drugs to Cost More

June

2026

Buses operated by Punjab Roadways Transport Corporation (PRTC) and Punbus remained off the roads following a strike by contractual employees on 9 Jun which was called off on 10 Jun after talks with the state Transport Secretary Varun Roojam. Around 4,700 workers participated in the strike under the banner Punjab Roadways, Punbus, and PRTC Contract Workers Union (Punjab) protesting the induction of private buses under the kilometre scheme. The strike, initially scheduled from 22–24 Jun, was advanced after Panjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema flagged off five Volvo buses operating under the Punbus km scheme for the Delhi airport route from Chandigarh on 9 Jun. The employees said that instead of bringing private operators into public transport, the government should strengthen Punbus and PRTC by adding more state-owned buses and filling vacant posts. They are also demanding regularization of services, implementation of equal pay for equal work, reinstatement of dismissed employees, withdrawal of cases registered during earlier protests, and better welfare benefits for outsourced workers. Concurrently, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann announced a massive enrolment drive to register and revalidate 1M construction workers waiving the standard USD 1.52 (INR 150) registration fee. He noted that only 221K workers are currently registered with the Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board despite the large-scale construction activity taking place across Panjab. Additionally, the Panjab government has directed all government and private hospitals, and nursing homes not to withhold dead bodies over non-payment of hospital bills or any other pending dues. Furthermore, Minister for Social Security, Women and Child Development, Baljit Kaur, said a state action plan worth USD 4.55M has been proposed under the National Action Plan for Drug Demand Reduction in 2026–27 which includes drug prevention initiatives, awareness campaigns, life skills education, counseling services, de-addiction and rehabilitation programs. Meanwhile, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority approved steep increases in the ceiling prices of essential cancer chemotherapy drugs, anti-tetanus immunoglobulin injections, and key childhood immunization vaccines on 8 Jun, citing sharp increases in raw material costs and the need to prevent supply shortages. Simultaneously, the Indian Institute of Technology, Ropar (Rupnagar), has brought in a non-profit organization, Rocket Learning, to deploy artificial intelligence and technology-enabled training programmes for Anganwadi workers—frontline caregivers and early childhood educators (earlier coverage).