Telangana ministers urge TGSRTC staff to end strike, promise talks

The Telangana cabinet has prioritised the ongoing TGSRTC strike, assuring employees that their concerns will be addressed through democratic dialogue. Industries Minister D Sridhar Babu and other ministers appealed to workers to withdraw the strike and avoid extreme steps.

Hyderabad: Assuring that the State government would hold talks with the unions, Industries Minister D Sridhar Babu appealed to the TGSRTC employees to exercise restraint and withdraw the strike.

He stated that the State cabinet meeting, which met here on Thursday, had discussed at length the ongoing TGSRTC strike, which commenced on Wednesday.

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Briefing media persons about the cabinet meeting, the Minister urged the RTC employees not to take any extreme steps. “Do not get influenced by a few persuasive forces and sacrifice valuable lives,” Sridhar Babu said.

The State government would come up with an action plan to address all the issues in a democratic manner. Talks would be held under the Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka’s leadership on Friday, he stated.

Health Minister Damodar Rajanarasimha said the cabinet set aside other agendas and had taken up the RTC strike as a priority agenda. Issues can be addressed through deliberations but not with ephemeral rage, he stressed.

The RTC employee was shifted from Narsampet to Hyderabad for treatment at Apollo Hospitals, Kanchanbagh, he said.

“Let us discuss. We are all one big family,” the Minister appealed

Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar stressed that the State government was committed to address the employees’ issues.

Admitting that there were a few issues like PRC, merger of RTC with government and others. Already, an officers committee was constituted to look into the issues, he stressed.

R&B Minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy said apart from Narsampet depot employee, another employee in Nalgonda too attempted suicide. He is safe, he said.

“There will be a few persons who instigate to derive political mileage. Do not fall prey to their narrative,” Venkat Reddy said.

When the Ministers were asked about restrictions and orders being issued by the police not to support the strike, the Transport Minister said a few orders could have been issued, citing local law and order issues. The government has permitted the employees to protest peacefully, he added.