While opposition parties extended support to the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC,) the Telangana Government decided to be strict and handle the situation in a tough way.
K.Chandrashekar Rao (KCR,) the Chief Minister of Telangana, on the 6th of October, conducted a meeting and decided to sack all those employees who did not report before the deadline (6:00 P.M.,) on the 5th of October.
KCR also constituted a new Committee to handle the RTC situation and directed the Transport authorities to hire approximately 2,500 new buses and appoint new employees. He also asked the concerned officials to give permits to more 4,114 private buses to ease travel for commuters.
Mr. Rao said, “TSRTC and Transport department officials are holding discussions with private operators in this regard.”
Mr. Rao during the meeting said, “The government will start a new chapter in the history of the TSRTC. The government is not ready to compromise on its position since the JAC went on an illegal strike knowing fully well that the corporation had accumulated losses of Rs 1,200 crore besides a debt of Rs 5,000 crore, and that too during the festival season.”
Deciding upon the continuous strike of the RTC employees, KCR said the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) is not going to accept unnecessary demands of the Union leaders of Joint Action Committee (JAC.)
The TSRTC employees went on strike on the 5th of October for an indefinite period. The employees and union leader called for a strike with a demand of a merger of the TSRTC with the State Government.
Despite the RTC strike, the movement of buses is said to be smooth and very convenient. According to sources, close to 70 % of buses were running, no violent incidents were reported in any part of the State. Since the 5th of October, approximately 503 buses are running in Telangana, out of which 301 are RTC buses and 202 are hired services. The State even hired 170 temporary drivers and conductors and 301 drivers and conductors on the 5th and 6th of October respectively.
Puvvada Ajay Kumar, the Transport Minister of Telangana, Vemula Prashanth Reddy, the Minister of Roads and Buildings Legislative Affairs and Housing, Rajiv Sharma, the Government’s Chief Advisor, S.K. Joshi, the Chief Secretary of Telangana, Somesh Kumar, the Special Chief Secretary, M. Mahender Reddy, the Director General of Police (DGP,) Sunil Sharma, the Principal Secretary of Transport, S. Narsing Rao, the Principal Secretary of the Chief Minister Office (CMO,) Bhoopal Reddy, the Special Secretary of the CMO, Sandeep Sultania, the Transport Commissioner, Jitendra, the Additional DGP and other senior officials attended the meeting.
Stay tuned for further updates.
