Around 1,700 bus drivers hired by the DTC on a daily wage contract have gone on a strike demanding regularisation and an increase in salary. As a result, DTC chairman Ramesh Negi said, “350-odd buses went off the roads on Tuesday. We have been facing a shortfall of 150 buses in the morning and about 200 in the evening during peak hours.”

The Transport Minister Haroon Yusuf met the protesting group on Tuesday and offered them an increase in wages (an additional

Rs 1,500 for 22 consecutive days). The drivers refused to take up the offer and have vowed that the strike will continue.

“We get Rs 89 per day currently. We want them to regularise our jobs and pay a salary of Rs 10,000 to drivers beyond 55,” said Chand Babu Gola, secretary of the group protesting at Samta Sthal, near Rajghat.

As the drivers continue to demand regularisation, Negi said that the drivers cannot be regularised because the minimum educational qualification is matriculation. “Most of them are beyond 35 years and are not qualified educationally. We can renew their contracts but cannot regularise their jobs,” he added. Since the education qualification has been set according to a Delhi High Court directive, Negi said that there is nothing that the DTC can do.