Telangana: RTC employees resume duties after 52-day strike

Around 48,000 workers of Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) on Friday called off their strike after 52 days following Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's government's decision to allow them to resume their duties.

Most of the employees expressed happiness over resuming their duties.

Speaking to , TSRTC worker Ayyub Khan said, "It was a 52-day long strike. We struggled a lot for our demands to get fulfilled. Our jobs were at stake. But now we are happy that we have got our jobs back."

Member of Legislative Council Ramchander Rao said that that the RTC employees have joined their duties but the state government was not prepared in any way to take their employees back.

Hitting out at KCR, the MLC said: "Chief Minister of Telangana had announced that RTC employees can get back to their jobs. It is a healthy sign, we welcome that move. However, the loss cannot be paid or compensated to their families in any way. The government is responsible for the loss of 30 employees who committed suicide or died due to heart attacks. The RTC workers problems should be resolved and proper compensation should be given."

Senior Congress leader V Hanumanth Rao also targetted the government and said that it has allowed employees to join duties but now no worker unions only two members in each depot will be authorised to mediate, which is not correct. "It is mentioned in the labour law that workers have the right to form unions," he said.

"I travel from RTC buses regularly. It has been nearly two months that buses were not available. It was very difficult for us to use an alternative. We are happy that the busses are available now," Gadadhar, a local said.

He had announced compassionate jobs to the kin of RTC employees who died during the strike. "The government will sanction Rs 100 crores to the RTC for immediate working capital. We will also increase ticket fare by 20 paise so that it will help the RTC in generating more revenue," he said.

Moreover, he had said that the Telangana government has decided to release Rs 571 crore to repair the roads which got damaged in the rains.

( With inputs from ANI )