HYDERABAD: The TSRTC JAC on Tuesday challenged the chief minister’s ultimatum of fully-privatising the TSRTC, in case the protesting workers failed to rejoin duties by midnight of November 5.
Dismissing the claims that as per the provisions of the amended MV Act, the State government could completely privatise the corporation, the JAC unions pointed out that the Road Transport Act of 1950 does not allow for the same, reiterating that the TSRTC strike will continue.
Speaking at a press meet here on Tuesday, the RTC JAC convenor, Ashwathama Reddy, said, “The CM, as claimed, can’t take any drastic decision without following the stipulated rules. The present RTC came into being with the 1950 Road Transport Act which states that the Centre has a 31 per cent stake and the State has a 69 per cent in the corporation. So the Central government has to be consulted before any decision is made.”
The JAC convenor further mentioned the provisions of various sections of the 1950 Road Transport Act, emphasising the role of Centre in decisions pertaining to the RTC. “The sections 39.1 and 39.2 of Road Transport Act of 1950 have clearly stated that any decision on RTC liquidation will require both Central and State government’s nod. So these claims made by the CM are just to threaten workers into rejoining duty,” he added.
The Section 39 of the said Act states, “No provision of any law relating to the winding up of companies or corporations shall apply to a Corporation, and no Corporation shall be placed in liquidation save by order of the State government concerned, and save in such manner as may be directed by that government. Provided that no such order shall be made by any State government except with the previous approval of the Central government.”
It may be recalled that speaking at a press conference on November 2, the chief minister had given an ultimate deadline of November 5 midnight to the protesting RTC employees to report back to their duties. Soon after, only nine employees reported to work. As of midnight November 5, a month will have passed since the employees announced the strike on midnight October 5.
The JAC convenor further stated that the workers must not feel threatened by the government, or even the RTC officials. “We will resume our protests from November 6 with a sit-in protest in front of depots across the State, followed by a protest with human rights activists on November 7. On November 9, we will organise a ‘Chalo Tank Bund’ rally,” Reddy said.
Days after argument with temp drivers, DM attacked
Unidentified persons on Tuesday attacked the divisional manager (DM) of Bhainsa RTC depot, S Janardhan, near the Bhainsa depot in Nirmal district on Tuesday. The DM suffered minor injuries on his hands and shoulders. It has been alleged that the temporary drivers and conductors hired by the Bhainsa RTC, in lieu of the ongoing employees’ strike, could be involved in the attack. This, after the temporary employees had been arguing with the DM, in the last few days, over failure to meet the targets set for them
Soon after joining duties, workers return to strike
Warangal/Karimnagar: Within minutes of rejoining duties at their respective RTC depots in at least four regions of erstwhile Warangal, four out of eight employees returned to strike with their colleagues, on Tuesday. Meanwhile, at Karimnagar’s Godavarikhani strike camp, the protesting workers treated Alibaba, an RTC driver who rejoined duties on Tuesday, as a traitor, and tied footwear to his flex banner. Three days after CM’s ultimatum, three more employees rejoined duties in erstwhile Karimnagar.