TSRTC Strike Day 50: JAC To Continue Stir, Employees Fate Remains In Limbo

HYDERABAD: With no positive response coming from the state government despite their readiness to resume duties, the striking employees of Telangana State Road Transport Corporation continued their protests.

The RTC workers, who began their strike on October 5, held rallies and other forms of protest at various places in the state on Saturday.

RTC employees unions leader E Ashwathama Reddy said they would announce their future course of action on Sunday.

After the Telangana High Court stated that the RTC strike was to be referred to the Labour Court recently, the RTC JAC said that they were ready to resume their duties if the government created a congenial atmosphere for the purpose.

The RTC JAC had taken another major decision on Friday, November 22 as the Telangana government did not respond to the JAC's proposal of taking back the employees on jobs unconditionally. JAC Convenor E Ashwathama Reddy said that TSRTC employees will continue TSRTC strike. RTC employees will hold strike at all depots on Saturday under the name of Save RTC.

Ashwathama said that even though the workers are ready to join in the duties the state government is not ready to take them back to the duties. He expressed distress over the Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao as he didn't take any decision even after RTC employees willing to end the 48-day-old strike and return to work without insisting that their demands are fulfilled.

JAC Convenor said that the workers are not responsible for the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) losses and the strike was the result of government's failure in resolving RTC issues. The RTC JAC has announced to call off the strike if the government takes all the workers back to jobs. Although the workers reached the depots to rejoin duties, the depot managers were ordered not to take them back the workers until the government takes a call over it.

Meanwhile the Telangana High Court conducted a hearing over the proposal of Privatisation and approved for the Privatisation decision taken by Telanagana government on Friday, November 22 and that it cannot interfere in cabinet's decision.

KCR made it clear that "Telangana government has complete rights for privatising the TSRTC buses under Section 102 of the Motor Vehicle Act." The High Court further reminded that the profits are only possible in the state when there is pleasant competition between the government and the private sector.

The High Court dismissed all petitions filed against the privatisation of TSRTC. HC further came to an opinion that it is not wrong to hand over 5100 buses to private sector.

The Petitioner, on the other hand, challenged in the Supreme Court over the TSRTC Privatisation of routes. With this HC verdict now the TSRTC will have 50% RTC and 50% private buses operating in Telangana.

This verdict of HC has became a major setback to the Joint Action Committee (JAC) and all 48,000 agitating TSRTC employees who are protesting for the past 48 days from October.

Meanwhile as the fate of the striking 49,300 RTC employees lies in a limbo, the government is of the view that a permanent solution should be found to the problems of RTC and has said it would take a final decision on the strike after taking into consideration the pending matters in the high court and all other relevant issues.