Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TGSRTC) employees deferred their indefinite strike scheduled from Wednesday as the state government agreed to look into their demands. The breakthrough came during the talks Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar had with the leaders of the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of the TGSRTC employees on Tuesday.
The state government came forward to constitute a three-member committee of IAS officials to hold talks with the employees’ unions and address their demands. The committee comprising Naveen Mittal, Lokesh Kumar, and Krishna Bhaskar has been asked to submit its report to the government. During the three-hour-long talks, the JAC leaders demanded that the government provide job security to the employees.
The Transport Minister responded positively to their demand that the government should procure electric buses and give them to the RTC. The JAC leaders said they decided to postpone their strike to give time to the government to address their problems. They said they also took the decision keeping in view the prevailing situation in the country following the terror attack at Pahalgam.
Also Read: Telangana RTC employees set to go on strike from tomorrow
They, however, made it clear that they deferred their decision temporarily and that if their demands are not met, they will go on strike. The JAC had earlier decided to go on strike from May 7. Over 6,000 buses were likely to go off the roads, affecting over 60 lakh passengers across the state every day.
The JAC’s demands include the implementation of the long-pending merger of the RTC with the state government, implementation of two Pay Revision Commissions (PRC), payment of pending dues towards the Credit Cooperative Society (CCS) and the employees’ provident fund, and wage revision and pending allowances. The TGSRTC management had warned that action would be taken against those threatening employees or obstructing their duties.
The management, in an open letter to the employees, had stated that strikes are prohibited in RTC as per the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA). It warned that legal action would be taken against those responsible for threatening employees or obstructing their duties in the name of the strike.
The management appealed to employees not to go on strike as it would cause irreparable damage to the organisation and its employees, at a crucial time when the organisation is on the path of recovery.
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