HYDERABAD: Calling it an attempt to insult the union leaders of the TSRTC and weaken their unity, the TSRTC JAC leaders expressed their shock at the ‘harsh’ comments of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Thursday. Reacting to the chief minister’s statements, the leaders called them blatant lies and a betrayal of their commitment to the TRS party in the run up to the Telangana Statehood movement.
Rao’s remarks have sent the JAC leadership into a tizzy. They have planned a ‘Palle Bata’ (or a walk to the villages) in a bid to reinstate the trust and confidence among the employees.
Speaking to the media on Thursday, TSRTC JAC convener Ashwathama Reddy said, “The TSRTC is not anyone’s property. He (KCR) can’t just say that he would shut it down. This is nothing but an attempt to destroy our unity.”
Other leaders also claimed that these were attempts to break the trust of the workers and incite them to resume their jobs, abandoning the efforts to save the TSRTC. “We want to remind the public and the chief minister that until now it was the strength and unity of workers alone that had saved the RTC every time there was a crisis. We will tour the State over the next few days to mobilise support for our struggle,” said RTC JAC leader Thomas Reddy.
The leaders also claimed that the press meet called by the chief minister misconstrued facts. “Rao’s statement that the corporation was given over Rs 4,550 crore is laughable. In reality, we were just given `712 crore. KCR must tell us where the rest of the amount disappeared to,” the leaders said.
They further asked why the chief minister had not informed the public about how the RTC had been giving `1,000 crore every year in the form of taxes to the government. “Old governments had reduced the Motor Vehicle taxes, but Telangana government has not attempted to take up such measures to reform the RTC,” said an official.