HYDERABAD: Prospects of an end to the TSRTC employees’ strike, which began on October 5, brightened on Tuesday with the state government deciding to examine 21 of their 45 demands and submit a report to the high court on October 28 when it resumes hearing on a PIL on the strike.
After studying the court’s October-18 order, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao veered to the conclusion that the employees had forsaken their principal demand of a merger of the corporation with the government, and therefore, the government could take up the other 21 demands, which the court referred to in its order.
The CM formed a committee with RTC executive directors (EDs) to go through the demands and submit a report, which would be vetted and placed before the court. He did not raise the issue of inviting trade union representatives for talks and steered clear of his earlier controversial statement that 48,000 TSRTC employees stood dismissed.
The decision to study the 21 demands was taken at a review meeting the CM held with Transport Minister Puvvada Ajay Kumar and other officials.
'Never gave up call for merger'
TSRTC JAC convenor E Ashwathama Reddy, meanwhile, told reporters that the employees did not forsake their demand for a merger. “All demands... should figure in the talks,” he said.
“Though the RTC employees initially stated that a merger of the RTC with the government was their principal demand, they later altered their stand. Their counsel Prakash Reddy informed the court that they would not insist that the merger is a precondition for talks. This meant that the RTC unions had forsaken their demand for the merger. The court also suggested that the government could look into the 21 other demands. These demands, by and large, did not impose any financial burden on RTC or the government,” he said.
Following directions from the CM, Transport Principal Secretary Sunil Sharma formed a six-member committee comprising five EDs — A Purushottam, C Vinod Kumar, E Yadagiri, V Venkateswarlu and financial advisor N Ramesh — to study the RTC unions’ demands. The CM also enquired about the alternative measures being taken in view of the strike, and directed officials to issue a notification to hire an additional 1,000 buses.
'Strike illegal'
The CM, meanwhile, continued to insist that the strike was illegal and it was unethical on the part of the Congress and the BJP to support it. “Narendra Modi government has enacted a legislation conferring full powers to the State government to privatise the routes of the RTCs. But the state BJP leaders are speaking against that Act. When Digvijaya Singh was CM of Madhya Pradesh, the Congress government closed the RTC. Leaders of these parties are issuing contradictory statements,” Rao said.
The CM recalled that the Motor Vehicle Act, 1950 was enacted when Jawaharlal Nehru was prime minister. As per that Act, no private vehicles would be given permits. But Section 3 of the Act was amended by the Modi government in 2019, he pointed out. The Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Act, 2019 opened the door for private players in the transport sector, he added.
He even recalled that the 2019 Act mentioned that the participation of the private sector would encourage healthy competition and directed states to take steps in that direction. The Centre felt competition was necessary to bring down travel fare, he said, adding, “In disregard to this, the BJP state leaders are making conflicting statements... We are only trying to implement the Central Act.”