The Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) employees and Joint Action Committee (JAC) leaders decided to conduct rallies across Telangana.
On the morning of the 29th of October, the TSRTC employees met at depots and conducted mourning meetings for Neeraja, a woman conductor and TSRTC employee who committed suicide on the 28th of October.
Neeraja’s family blamed the ongoing TSRTC strike for Neeraja’s extreme step of committing suicide.
After Neeraja took her own life, the TSRTC staff and leaders decided to conduct bike rallies across 33 districts in Telangana.
The TSRTC strike began on the 5th of October and entered its 24th day on the 29th of October.
The reason behind the indefinite strike is the long standing demands of the TSRTC employees, including the merging of the TSRTC with the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) Government.
However, the K. Chandrashekar Rao led TRS Government refused to accept the demands of the employees and hired private buses and temporary staff to make travelling easier for the public.
The matter even went to the Telangana High Court, which asked the TSRTC employees and the State Government to negotiate with each other and resolve the matter.
In the last hearing, which was on the 28th of October, the advocate general representing the State Government said, “The TSRTC workers have insisted on the merger. The State Government is not in a position to merge. The Government has not enough money to meet the demands of the workers. Additional strike on behalf of TSRTC caused a loss of 175 crores to the Government during the festive season.”
On the other hand, the advocate representing the TSRTC employees claimed the gross income of the TSRTC was Rs. 3,294 crores. He also said the Government does not exempt the Company from paying tax on diesel, which is why the TSRTC faced losses.
The representative of the JAC leaders also said the TSRTC has dues of Rs. 4,000 crores. The Telangana HC listened to both sides of the argument and ordered the TRS Government to come up with accurate facts about the dues of the TSRTC within 24 hours.
Meanwhile, on the 29th of October, the TSRTC JAC would conduct a meeting in Kasipet. The TSRTC employees would also conduct a press meet with the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) employees at the APSRTC Employees Union office.
To control the situation, the State Government also gave a permit to private vehicles to run on approximately 4,000 routes across Telangana.
Stay tuned for further updates.
