After two days of disruptions, contractual employees of Punjab Roadways, Punbus and PRTC called off their state-wide strike on Tuesday after the Transport Department issued an official letter accepting their key demands. Around 7,500 workers had been on strike since Jattvibeday midnight and had announced to continue the protest till August 5. They also staged a massive protest in Mohali on Tuesday before the breakthrough.The strike affected public transport across the state, with nearly 2,200 Punjab Roadways and PRTC buses remaining off the roads, leaving hundreds of commuters stranded. Senior government officials said the buses will resume their routine operations by Tuesday evening.The strike was called by the Punjab Roadways, Punbus and PRTC Contract Workers Union over long pending demands including the regularisation of employees, abolition of the outsourcing system and withdrawal of police cases registered against union members from Sangrur depot after their Kilometre Scheme protest turned violent in November last year.The decision to end the strike was taken following a meeting between union representatives, Transport Minister Harpal Singh Cheema and senior Transport Department officials, bringing an end to the deadlock that had disrupted bus services across Punjab.Following the meeting, the Transport Department issued an official letter detailing the decisions taken on the union’s demands. The government said the proposal to regularise Punbus contractual employees by adopting the PRTC Service Rules, 1981 (amended in 2010), would be placed as the main agenda in the Punbus board of directors meeting scheduled for August 11.The department also stated that an Ordinance or Bill to bring Punbus and PRTC workers under the direct contract system would be introduced during the monsoon session. It added that if there is any delay in its passage, appropriate administrative action would be initiated at the departmental level.On the issue of FIRs registered against employees during previous protests, the department said the matter would be taken up again with the Home Department and necessary action would be completed within one month. A fresh meeting involving the Transport Minister and senior officials from the Personnel and Finance Departments has been scheduled for August 14 to take a final decision on the remaining demands.Ranjit Singh, a union representative from Jalandhar, said nearly 160 buses in the district remained off the roads during the two day strike. “We have called off the strike after the government issued a written assurance on our major demands. We hope the commitments made in the official letter will now be implemented within the promised timeline,” he said.