[ VOLUME 6 I ISSUE 1 I JAN.– MARCH 2019] E ISSN 2348 –1269, PRINT ISSN 2349-5138 PUBLIC PERCEPTION REGARDING ROADWAYS EMPLOYEES STRIKE

Anita1 & Dr. Shakti Singh2 1Research Scholar, Department of Commerce,Maharshi Dayanand University, . 2Assistant Professor, Department of Commerce, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak

Received: January 17, 2019 Accepted: March 02, 2019

ABSTRACT: Public transport system provides accessibility to mobility, education, health retail and other services to public. PublicRoad transport also provides linkage to other modes of transports i.e. railways, ports and airports. The road transport is a fundamental necessity and it has to operate in flexible and diversified manner. Haryana Roadways State Transport is currently providing service with 4250 to approx. 10.87lakhs passengers per day. Haryana Roadways is main transport service provider in Haryana and important destinations in its neighboring states and committed to provide economical, safe, adequate and environmental friendly services to public. The recent strike of employees of Haryana Roadways State Transport has drawn attention of public towards the demands of employees. The authors of the present paper had tried to reveal the justification of massive strike carried out by the employees of Haryana Roadways in the recent past by conducting a mini survey on general public of Haryana in District during the strike period.

Key Words: : Haryana Roadways, Public Transport system, Strike, Justification

Introduction A country cannot grow economically without adequate public transport system. Public transport system has played an important role in connectivity of different villages and cities of a country. Transport system increases connectivity between places and has built the whole world a small village. Haryana State was formed after reconstruction of erstwhile Punjab state in 1966. Also formed an organization named as ‘Haryana Roadways State Transport’ to provide road transport services to public in Haryana and neighboring states. Haryana Roadways is the key transport service provider organization for public by using fleet of 4250 buses through 24 Depots and 13 Sub Depots in Haryana and at important destinations in neighboring states. Haryana Roadways buses operate an average of 11.74 lakh kilometers every day and carry an approx. of 10.87 lakh passengers daily. Haryana Roadways state transport is undertaking working with objective of adequate, reliable, safe and environmental friendly transport services to the passengers. It also provides new initiatives to fulfill emerging requirements of public like Volvo AC services named as ‘Saarthi’ on specific routes. Some routes are also connecting with IGI (Indira Gandhi International Airport) and domestic airport, . Haryana Uday CNG buses have been introduced in National Capital Region whereas city bus service has been launched in , and cities. To make travel a pleasant experience, passengers’ amenities have been upgraded from time to time. Apart from the depot system online reservation and ticketing system are also available for Volvo Ac buses on specific routes to costumers. The transport department of Haryana is having two wings i.e., operating wing and regulatory wing. There are 23 Depots and 13 Sub Depots of this organization working with the aim of providing comfortable transport services to the public. The present status of Haryana Roadways Transport Department can be gauged from the following table. Sr. no. Category Strength 1 Buses 4104 2 Staff 16433 3 Depot 23 4 Sub- depot 13 5 Bus stands 105 6 Passengers Carried Per Day(in lakhs) 10.85 7 Kilometer Operated Per Day 11.82 8 Departmental Driver Training Schools 20 헂994 IJRAR- International Journal of Research and Analytical Reviews Research Paper [VOLUME 6 I ISSUE 1 I JAN. – MARCH 2019] e ISSN 2348 –1269, Print ISSN 2349-5138 http://ijrar.com/ Cosmos Impact Factor 4.236

9 Central Workshop 3 10 Body Building Workshop 1 11 Annual Turnover 1906 cr.

Organizational Structure of Haryana Roadways State Transport Haryana Roadways State Transport is organization working with the aim of providing reliable, comfortable, economic and environmental friendly transport services to people. Haryana Roadways State Transport is an organization working with fleet of 4250 buses and approx. 17000 employees. There are two wings of Haryana Roadways Department, one of them is Regulatory Wing and other is operating wing. Regulatory wing is headed and controlled by State Transport Minister who is responsible to formulate policies regarding the traffic in state and implementation of them and rule regulations of Motor Vehicle Act 1988, Haryana Motor Vehicle Rules 1993 and Haryana Motor Taxation Act 2016 etc. whereas the operating wing is headed by Director General of State Transport assisted by Additional Transport Commissioner, Joint State Commissioner, Deputy Transport Commissioner, Flying Squad Officer and General Manager. The basic unit of this organization is Depot and Sub Depot where actual revenue generated. Each depot is headed by General Manger and he is assisted by Workshop Manager, Store Purchaser Officer, Traffic Manager and other officers like Accounts Officer, Superintendent and Assistant District Attorney Etc. The organizational structure of Haryana Roadways can be explained by following diagram.

Objective of the study The basic objective of the present study is to reveal what the general public thinks about the massive strike carried out by the employees of Haryana Roadways repeatedly in the past years to fulfill their demands by the Haryana Government.

Limitations of the study The present study is limited to district Rewarion the basis of sample of 100 respondents only during the period of strike.

Research Methodology Primary data have been used to achieve the objectives of this research paper. A questionnaire was designed and circulated to 100 respondents to know their opinion of public regarding strike done by Haryana Research Paper IJRAR- International Journal of Research and Analytical Reviews 헂995 [ VOLUME 6 I ISSUE 1 I JAN.– MARCH 2019] E ISSN 2348 –1269, PRINT ISSN 2349-5138 Roadways employees in District Rewari during the period of strike i.e. From 17th October to 31th October whereas secondary data has been assembled from website of transport department of Haryana, research papers, journals and various newspapers. Statistical tools and techniques i.e. tables, percentages; frequency, bar charts and chi-square have been used to analyze the collected data through SPSS 21.

Hypothesis H0: There is no significant difference in the opinion of respondents regarding the reasons of strike. H1:There is significant difference in the opinion of respondents regarding the reasons of strike. H2: There is no significant difference in the responses regarding occupancy ratio of Haryana roadways and private buses. H3: There is significant difference in the responses regarding occupancy ratio of Haryana roadways and private buses.

Data Analysis & Interpretation For achieving the objectives of the present study, the data have been collected by using a questionnaire regarding strike of Haryana Roadways’ employees. The collected data has been analyzed through SPSS 21. Total numbers of respondents were 100 out of which 41 were male and 59 were female respondents.Demographic factor “AGE” shows that there are 47% respondents of Age Category “Between 20 to 30”,34% respondents are “Between 30 to 40”and 19% respondents were “40 and above”. Table1: Age of Respondents Age of Respondents Frequency Percentage Below 30 years 47 47% Between 30 to 40 34 34% Above 40 years 19 19% Total 100 100%

In the Questionnaire the first statement was about the reasons for strike. Out of 100, 7% respondents considered that strike done by employees is politically motivated, 22% of respondents considered strike has been done for monetary benefits whereas 34% considered strike is done to show protest against licenses to private buses. This can be presented by following table and graph. Table 2: Reasons For Strike Observed N Expected N Residual Politically motivated 7 25.0 -18.0 For Monetary Benefits. 22 25.0 -3.0 License to Private Buses 37 25.0 12.0 All of Above 34 25.0 9.0 Total 100

Test Statistics Reasons For Strike Chi-Square 22.320b D.o.f. 3 Asymp. Sig. .000

The Chi square test was used to check whether the responses of people regarding the reasons were similar or there is difference in the opinion of respondents. The chi square table shows that the null hypothesis (H0) is rejected and it is concluded that there is difference in the responses regarding the reasons of strike. The above results show that the most influencing reason for strike was providing licenses to private buses.

Table 3: Occupancy Ratio of Passengers in Buses Observed N Expected N Residual Haryana Roadways 63 50.0 13.0 Private Buses 37 50.0 -13.0 Total 100

헂996 IJRAR- International Journal of Research and Analytical Reviews Research Paper [VOLUME 6 I ISSUE 1 I JAN. – MARCH 2019] e ISSN 2348 –1269, Print ISSN 2349-5138 http://ijrar.com/ Cosmos Impact Factor 4.236

Test Statistics Occupancy Ratio of Buses Chi-Square 6.760a d.o.f 1 Asymp. Sig. .009

Out of all 63% of respondents considered that occupancy ratio was better in buses of Haryana Roadways whereas 37% respondents considered that occupancy ratio was better in private buses. The Chi- Square Test was used as goodness of fit test in order to analyze the response of people regarding occupancy ratio in Haryana roadways and private buses. The result shows that the chi-square value was less than 5% and hence the null hypothesis (H3) is rejected. Hence we can concluded that the responses regarding the occupancy ratios were not same and people highly favored Haryana roadways buses in comparison to private buses. Table 4: Licenses to Private Buses on Specific Routes Response Frequency Percentage Yes 59 59% No 41 41% Total 100 100%

The results of table 4 with regard to licenses to private buses on specific routes clearly indicated that 59%of the respondents favored that the government should provide licenses to private bus operators on specific routes. And rest of 41% respondents doesn’t favor the government decision. Hence from above results it is inferred that most of the respondents welcome the government decision of giving licenses to private buses operators in Haryana on specific routes. Table 5: Private Licenses Considered Threat to Haryana Roadways Employees Responses Frequency Percentage Yes 65 65% No 35 35% Total 100 100%

The researcher in her efforts tries to know that licenses to private buses will be a threat or challenge to Haryana Roadways Employees on specific routes. In this regard majority of respondents (65%) opinioned that licenses to private buses will be a challenge for regular employment in Haryana Roadways whereas 35% respondents don’t consider it will be a challenge or threat to their present & prospective jobs. Table 6: Satisfaction Regarding Services Provided by Private Buses Responses Frequency Percentage Yes 43 43% No 57 57% Total 100 100%

In analysying the data of table 6 with regard to the satisfaction of services provided by private bus operators, the researcher found that 57% respondents were not satisfied by the swrvices provided by private bus operatorsand remaining 43% were satisfied with the services provided by them. From above analysis we can conluded that people highly favoured the services providing by Haryana Roadways Buses in compairsion to private buses. Table7: Imposition of ESMA Responses Frequency Percentage Yes 91 91% No 9 9% Total 100 100%

When the Haryana Roadways Employees extended their period of strike, Government of Haryana imposed ESMA (Essential Service Maintenance Act) on employees of Haryana Roadways. The results of the table 7 clearly indicate that Government decision of imposing ESMA was a correct decision. 91% respondents favored imposition of ESMAand 9% respondents opposes this strict decision. Research Paper IJRAR- International Journal of Research and Analytical Reviews 헂997 [ VOLUME 6 I ISSUE 1 I JAN.– MARCH 2019] E ISSN 2348 –1269, PRINT ISSN 2349-5138 Table 8: Justification of Strike Responses Frequency Percentage Yes 36 36% No 64 64% Total 100 100%

Overall 64% of the respondents had not justified the strike done by the employees of Haryana Roadways whereas 36% of respondents were in favor of strike done. It is revealed from above table that public transport system should provide adequate services to the public.

Conclusion Like other trade union and association Haryana Roadways Employees are also having democratic rights to protect their rights &raise voice against injustice and inequality. But they should also not forget the sufferings of common public because of their strike. As they are also common public and no one can understand public inconvenience better than them. The investigators of the present study reached to the conclusion that majority of the public was not in the favor of strike done by employees of Haryana Roadways and they considered that the main reasons for strike were either opposition of licenses to private buses operators or for their monetary benefits. Alsopublic prefer Haryana Roadways Services in comparison to private bus services. However people considered that providing licenses to private bus operators on specific routes will be a challenge for present and prospective job of Haryana Roadways employees. They also justified the imposition of ESMA to maintain the public road transport services because they believe that there should be need of some rule & regulations that maintain the essential services for public. Privatization is always opposed by employees of every government department and public sector undertakings but it cannot be avoided in LPG economy. Overall the frequent strikes carried out by Haryana Roadways employees are not justified by common public.

References Jain S. &Dhiman, P.K. (2018) Management Control System of State Transport Undertaking: An Analysis of Haryana Roadways. Archives of Business Research, 6(5), 125-134. Giri D. &Aher (2017) A Study of Working Conditions in Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation And Its Effect On Working Efficiency Of Bus Drivers. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resource Management and Organizational Behavior. Lekshmy S.N. &Kamar D.S.P. (2017). Propensity to Turnover amongFemale Employees- A Study on Kerela State Road Transport Corporation 8(4). Government of Haryana. Department of Economic and Statistical Analysis, Haryana. Economic Survey of Haryana 2016-2017. Gupta P.,Tanwar B. & Kaushik N.,(2015) An Investigation of Service Quality Parameters in Haryana Roadways. Apeejay Journal of Management & Technology, Vol 10 No 1, 22-33. Karunesha K.K. &Nagaraju B. (2014) Evaluation of Employee’s Perception with Special Reference to KSRTC. Indian journal of commerce and management studies. 5(3). Barabino , B.,Deiana, E.,&Tilocca, P. (2012) Measuring Service Quality in Urban Bus Transport: A Modified SERVQUAL Approach. International Journal of Quality and Service Science 4(3) 238-252. Tiwari S. (2011) Financial Performance of Haryana Roadways: A Comparative Study. International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, Vol.1. Sharma A.(2010) An evaluation of performance of Haryana state transport. Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak, Haryana. Chalam G.V. & Ali N. (2009) An Evaluation of Financial Performance Of State Road Transport Corporation: A Case Study of The Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation. Kothari C.R. (2004) Research methodology, methods and techniques. New Delhi: New Age International Publishers. Mitra,S., Review of the Performance of State Road Transport Undertakings. Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. New Delhi. www.hartrans.com

QUESTIONNAIRE Name (not mandatory): Age: Gender: Occupation: Area: 헂998 IJRAR- International Journal of Research and Analytical Reviews Research Paper [VOLUME 6 I ISSUE 1 I JAN. – MARCH 2019] e ISSN 2348 –1269, Print ISSN 2349-5138 http://ijrar.com/ Cosmos Impact Factor 4.236 1. The strike done by employees of Haryana Roadways is Politically motivated. For monetary benefits. License to private buses. All of the above. 2. Does the license to private buses on specific routes is the right step taken by government of Haryana? Yes No 3. Does the license to private buses is challenge/threat to the Haryana Roadways employees? Yes No 4. Does the license to private buses will be in the interest of the common public? Yes No 5. As per your opinion occupancy ratio is better in Haryana Roadways buses. Private buses. 6. According to you government of Haryana should accept the all demands of Haryana Roadways employees to cancel the new licenses of private buses on specific routes? Yes No 7. Do you think the employees of Haryana Roadways should be given salary for strike period? Yes No 8. Are you satisfied with the services provided by private bus operators during the strike period of HR employees? Yes No 9. Government imposed ESMA (Essential Service Maintenance Act) on employees of Haryana roadways. Do you think is it justified? Yes No 10. Do you think strike done by employees of Haryana Roadways is justified? Yes No

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