Only 400 of 50,000 striking TSRTC employees resume work, ignore K Chandrasekhar Rao’s 5 Nov deadline to end stir

Hyderabad: Out of approximately 50,000 Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) employees, only around 400 have resumed services so far, even as the deadline set by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao expired Monday midnight. [caption id=“attachment_7465471” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of the Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station during the TSRTC employees’ strike over various demands, in Hyderabad. PTI[/caption] According to the sources, on Tuesday only around 400 TSRTC employees resumed their duties. Ashwatama Reddy, RTC - Joint Action Committee (JAC), President said, “The RTC unions have decided to boycott CM KCR’s call to resume their services unconditionally. All the employees are supporting the strike and they will not join back into services until the government comes forward to hold discussions with us on our demands.” The Telangana Chief Minister’s Office on Monday warned the striking TSRTC staff that if they fail to resume duty by the deadline of 5 November, the state government will not take them back. Employees of the TSRTC have been on strike for the past few weeks now and they have been demanding the government to fulfil their 26 demands. However, the state government declared the strike as ‘illegal’. The RTC Union approached the High Court and the case is still pending before the divisional bench. The government has clearly stated that the main demand to merge TSRTC with the government is not possible. JAC of TSRTC has been on a strike since 5 October demanding merger of the corporation with the state government and revision of pays among other demands.