‘Why treat us like Naxals?': Telangana RTC employees
HYDERABAD: Clashes erupted across all the 97 depots in the State, as TSRTC employees attempted to rejoin duty amid heavy police bandobast put in place to stop them.
A day ago, the TSRTC JAC had announced that their 52-day-long strike had come to an end and that all the 50,000 employees would report back to duty on Tuesday.
employee to the detention van
at Khammam depot
However, two hours after the JAC’s announcement, the managing director of the TSRTC, in a statement, said that the TSRTC employees would not be taken back based on their whims and fancies.
Following this, a heavy police force was deployed at all the depots.
The first batch of RTC employees began arriving at the depots at around 5:30 am in their khaki uniforms. They were intercepted and taken into preventive detention soon afterwards.
The police had formed heavy militarised zones across each of these depots and had blocked all the approach roads. Further, they had erected three-layered barricades up until the entrance of the depots.
At each of the entrances, the personnel were deployed to check the ID cards of every person passing through the depots.
“We came here with our letters expressing our will to join. But before we could even submit it to the depot manager, police roughed us up. Why are they not understanding our plight? The chief minister is not giving us any response. What else should we do?” asked Vijaya Kumari, a conductor.
The police, however, were in no mood to listen to their plight. They picked up those workers who refused to comply and detained them. At Ibrahimpatnam depot, over 300 workers were picked up. At other depots, nearly 200 were detained.
“Why are we being treated like Naxals? Are we worse than those who plunder our State with corruption? We are here to do the same public service that we had been doing for years. The government must allow us to work,” added another employee.
On Monday night, several employees had sent messages to their depot managers about their willingness to report back to work. However, the managers had shot letters to the local police seeking protection.
RTC JAC calls MD’s words painful
Hyderabad: The TSRTC JAC condemned the police crackdown on TSRTC employees who tried to report back to duty. In a press note, the JAC said that the TSRTC managing director Sunil Sharma’s words were painful, considering how the JAC had always stood by fair labour practices. “The MD says we deliberately went on a strike during the festive season. Does he not realise this was a risk for us too?”
‘CM smothering rights of workers’
Hyderabad: When the country was celebrating Constitution Day, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has been smothering the rights of the TSRTC workers in the State, alleged CLP leader Mallu Batti Vikramarka on Tuesday. Addressing the media at CLP office here on Tuesday, he asked why the State was not letting workers resume their duties, when the JAC had called off the strike.