Hyderabad: Transport minister Puvvada Ajay Kumar on Thursday snubbed Governor Tamilisai Soundarajan when she telephoned to take stock of the ongoing strike of Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (RTC) workers, who have been on strike since October 4.
The minister deputed a bureaucrat, principal secretary Rajiv Sharma, instead to Raj Bhavan.
The minister, Raj Bhavan sources said, told the Governor he was unable to visit as he was engaged in briefing Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on the strike. The minister told the Governor that he was sending his bureaucrat to brief her on the situation.
The Governor let the minister know that she wanted to discuss the issues raised by the RTC workers so as to find solutions to their demands.
When Mr Rajiv Sharma visited and met the Governor, she brought to his notice the fact that Raj Bhavan had received several representations from the RTC trade unions as well as from opposition parties. These pertained to the strike and also to the government’s suspected move to privatise RTC properties across the state.
The Governor reportedly enquired about alternate arrangements made for public transportation.
Mr Rajiv Sharma explained the alternate arrangements and the steps taken to make all services of the RTC fully operational. He also spoke to her about the case pending before the High Court with regard to the RTC strike.
