The Telangana High Court (HC) is going to review the petition filed against the privatisation of Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) bus routes.
On the 11th of November, the Telangana HC reviewed the petition and documents relevant to the affidavit pertaining to the privatisation decision. The documents were submitted by the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) led State Government.
After the TSRTC employees refused to step back and rejoin duty, the State Government conducted a Cabinet meeting and decided to privatise approximately 5,000 routes in Telangana.
S.K. Joshi, the Chief Secretary of Telangana, accompanied by a few TSRTC officials, submitted the affidavit about the State Government’s decision to handle the situation and the financial crisis. TRS officials described the current situation and said the State Government cannot manage the finance and to take care of the monetary crisis, they need to privatise the bus routes.
B.S. Prasad, the Advocate General (AG) representing the State Government, said the decision to privatise the TSRTC routes was unanimously taken under the State’s policy. Blaming the TSRTC workers, Mr. Prasad said the workers went on an indefinite strike despite several requests of the TRS Government against doing so. He further said the TRS Government also called the TSRTC employees for talks to resolve the matter.
AG Prasad also demanded the TSRTC strike be declared illegal and sought permission to take action against the employees under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947.
However, the Telangana High Court rejected the plea of the State Government to declare the strike illegal and did not allow the Government to take action against the workers.
The Telangana HC adjourned the hearing to the 12th of November.
Stay tuned for further updates.
