Governor Grants Approval For TSRTC Merger Draft Bill

Telangana Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan on Sunday granted her approval for the introduction of the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (Absorption of Employees into Government Service) Bill 2023 in the Legislative Assembly, with certain recommendations to the State government.

The recommendations made by the Governor include that the ownership of the lands, assets and properties of the TSRTC should vest with the corporation itself for its sole and exclusive use even after the absorption of the TSRTC's employees into the government, and that the government should give an explicit undertaking to that effect.

She also suggested that the assets finally be divided between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, and the process be completed, pursuant to the AP Reorganization Act. She also recommended thah the government clarify and assume the liability of the arrears from the erstwhile APSRTC.

The Governor also recommended that the emoluments of the RTC employees once they were absorbed as government employees be on the same level as those of the other state government employees, and that the TSRTC employees absorbed should have the facility to request compassionate appointment for family members on medical grounds if they turned unfit for service owing to the extreme stress and physical strain of work with the RTC.

The contract and outsourced employees should be treated, and given benefits and salaries, similar to regular employees, the Governor said. She recommended that both the regular and the contract employees, as long as they were in service, should receive the same health benefits of RTC hospitals, government-sponsored treatment up to a certain level and insurance benefits, and that the families of regular employees should also be included in the health benefits scheme.

The Governor conveyed her best wishes to all the employees of TSRTC and their families, and expressed hope that the absorption into government service would benefit them all.