TSRTC employees protest intensifies, Governor calls for talks, claims she is ‘studying’ bill

Employees of the Corporation wore black badges, raised slogans against the Governor and boycotted duties from 6 am to 8 am, bringing bus services to a halt across multiple districts.

Hyderabad: Protests are continuing to be staged across the State by employees of the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) from the early hours of Saturday against Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan withholding permission to table the RTC-Government merger bill in the Assembly. Employees of the Corporation wore black badges, raised slogans against the Governor and boycotted duties from 6 am to 8 am, bringing bus services to a halt across multiple districts.

With the protest intensifying and a massive protest being staged in front of the Raj Bhavan in Hyderabad, the Governor has called the RTC employees into the Raj Bhavan for talks. She also tried to douse the flames with a tweet claiming that she was “pained to know about the strike”, which she alleged caused inconvenience to the public. She claimed that she was with the RTC employees and that she was “studying” the bill “carefully because their rights should be safeguarded”.

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In the erstwhile Adilabad, services at five depots came to a standstill after employees gathered in front of the depot gates in Adilabad, Nirmal, Mancherial, Bhainsa and Asifabad towns and boycotted duties from 6 am to 8 am. They raised slogans criticising the Governor for delaying her nod to the bill being tabled. They said she was not concerned about the welfare of RTC employees. Municipal chairperson Jogu Premender and local councillors extended solidarity to the protest held in Adilabad town. Premender said the government had made a bold move, but certain persons holding key constitutional positions were unable to understand it.

A large number of employees, members of various TSRTC unions and activists of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) also took part in the protest. In erstwhile Medak too, RTC drivers, conductors and other staff organised protest programmes. They alleged that the Governor was blocking the merger of the RTC with the State government. Stating that the employees were hoping for a better future if the TSRTC bill was approved, they accused the Governor of acting at the behest of the Bharatiya Janata Party and demanded that the Governor give her nod to the bill immediately.

In the erstwhile Karimnagar district, employees, who staged a protest in front of Karimnagar depot-I, said that the State government had taken the merger decision to protect the interests of 43,000 employees. However, the Governor was trying to create hurdles to the State government’s move. Asking the Governor not to do injustice to them, they wanted the Raj Bhavan to approve the bill immediately. They warned to intensify the agitation if the bill was not approved.

In Nalgonda, TSRTC employees staged protests at depots at Miryalaguda, Narketpally, Yadagirigutta and other towns by wearing black badges. The buses remained to the depots for some time that affected the services as they staged demonstrations at the main gate of the depots.

TSRTC employees organized demonstrations at almost all depots in the erstwhile Warangal district as well. While bus services were stopped for 6 am to 8 am at Parkal and Mahabubabad depots, in Hanamkonda, the workers staged protests voicing their concern over the stalling of the Bill. During the protest, corporation workers assembled in front of the erstwhile Warangal district depots and expressed their concerns. They said the State government had opted to integrate TSRTC into the government structure, which was a strategic move aimed at safeguarding the rights and security of its 43,000 employees. They said they would intensify their protest if the Bill is not approved by the Governor.