HYDERABAD: With the State government dithering on conducting union elections, the RTC employees JAC leaders have upped the ante, warning that they would not hesitate to call a strike if their demand is not met.
The JAC leaders said that the failure of getting permission for the union election from the Chief Minister’s Office and the Transport department was nothing but ‘humiliation’.For now, the JAC has planned a series of protests, apart from an ongoing ‘signature campaign’ across the depots.
The JAC, comprising 10 unions, will be staging a dharna at Indira Park on February 26 and will also support the general strike called by trade unions on March 28 and 29.
“The two years sought by the Chief Minister to conduct union elections elapsed in December 2021, yet there is no clarity if and when the elections will be held. We are pressing for the demand, as there is no one to speak on behalf of employees, even as incidents of harassment have gone up. We still hope that the matter is resolved, but are keeping all options open as a last resort and may also go for a strike,” said JAC leader K Raji Reddy.
On the issue of RTC facing losses, the JAC members argue that public transport should not be viewed through the prism of profit and loss, as no purpose would be served. During the past seven years, the State government has pumped in Rs 1,016.34 crore, which translates to Rs 145 crore per year, apart from Budget allocations.
"The variation between Income and Expenditure remains huge, particularly after the pandemic. During 2020-21, it was Rs 2,329 crore and in 2021-22 (till December) it was Rs 1,787 crore, which amounts to a total of Rs 4,116 crore,” they argue.
“The meagre additional amount (apart from Budget) smacks claims of the government that it has pumped huge amounts of money and also contributed for salaries. Nowhere is public transport seen through the lens of profit and loss. Hence we demand that at least 2 per cent of the total budget is allocated in the upcoming budget,” said VS Rao, convener of JAC.