HYDERABAD: ON Day 25 of the TSRTC strike, the APSRTC JAC extended support to its Telangana counterpart in a press conference on Tuesday. Stating that their merger demand was rightful, they urged the State government to give the workers their due because RTC staff earn 20-30 per cent less than government employees for similar jobs. “We stand by the demands of the TSRTC JAC and support them in this strike,” said YV Rao, employees’ union leader.
The Andhra Pradesh JAC leaders further said, “The Telangana chief minister has agreed to a lot of policies and aspects of (Andhra Pradesh) Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy in the past. Then why can’t KCR adopt and implement what was done in AP? The Telangana government must take the good decisions of their neighbour into consideration and assess the merger demand,” said Pollishetty Damodar, General Secretary Employees Union.
The TSRTC JAC members further sharpened their attack on the government. “The State government said that they were using the Motor Vehicles (Amendments) Act for privatising bus routes. In that case, why are they selectively implementing the Act? Why not fully introduce it and impose the revised traffic challans?” asked Thomas Reddy, TSRTC JAC leader.