RTC buses run over normal life in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh
‘Strike would continue till their demand of 43% pay hike was accepted’ - Bus unions
Hyderabad: Only three per cent of the services run by Telangana state and Andhra Pradesh by the RTC were on the roads as the strike by staff unions took full effect on Wednesday.
APSRTC vice-chairman and managing director N. Sambasiva Rao said that the corporation was able to run 1,218 of the scheduled 11,282 services (10 per cent) in Andhra Pradesh, and 350 out of 10,705 services in Telangana.
Passengers had a tough time finding alternative transport options and many were unhappy about the timing of the strike, mostly due to increasing of fares by private buses, autorickshaws and shared cabs.
With over 1.6 crore regular commuters being affected, the RTC management has ordered 6,000 contract employees to rejoin by noon on Thursday, or face termination.
Mr Sambasiva Rao also said that if the contract employees resumed work by Thursday noon, their services would be regularised at the earliest. He, however, said that Esma (Essential Services Maintenance Act) would not be invoked against the employees but requested regular employees to resume their duties by Thursday noon.
The unions — AP State Road Transport Corporation Employees Union and Telangana Mazdoor Union — were unrelenting and said that the strike would continue till their demand for a 43-per cent pay hike was accepted.