HYDERABAD: Nine unions of Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) have decided to go on a strike in the coming weeks, demanding the government to implement a slew of measures to salvage the public transport corporation from severe losses. They tentatively plan to strike from September 29 onwards.
The Telangana RTC Joint Action Committee (JAC 1) which includes members from Telangana Jaatiya Mazdoor Union and AITUC met at Bus Bhavan on Monday. One of the major demands put forth by the corporation is to merge it with the government on the lines of Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) in Andhra Pradesh.
“This government has ignored the RTC for the past five years. No new buses have been added, and no budget allocations are made for RTC,” said K Hanumanthu Mudiraj, convenor of Telangana RTC JAC 1.
One of their other demands is to recruit people for various posts. “At least 7,000 people retired since 2011. We had no recruitment since then, and there is a serious staff shortage. The government must address this,” added Hanumanthu.
“They have also not constituted a pay panel to revise our pay which is due since 2017,” added Krishna from Bus Drivers Welfare association. They also demand taxes on diesel to be removed.