Telangana RTC Workers' Strike Postponed

The strike called by the workers of the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TGSRTC) has been postponed.

The decision followed successful negotiations between leaders of the RTC Joint Action Committee (JAC) and Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar.

The minister held discussions with the JAC leaders about the challenges being faced at the depots and the potential solutions related to employee workload and stress.

The issue of the RTC merger with the State government was also discussed during the nearly three-hour-long meeting.

In response to the employees' concerns, the State government constituted a committee comprising three IAS officers - Naveen Mittal, Lokesh Kumar and Krishna Bhaskar. The committee will engage with employee unions to explore solutions to various issues, and is expected to submit a report within a week.

Speaking with the media later, the JAC leaders said that the strike had been only temporarily deferred, with the expectation that the government would address their concerns within a stipulated timeframe.

"We have asked the government to ensure job security. The response was favourable, especially regarding private electric buses. Minister Ponnam Prabhakar announced that measures will be taken for the government to procure electric buses and provide them to the RTC," the JAC leaders said.

"The government has also responded positively to our request for compassionate appointments. We have proposed that such appointments be conducted regularly, similar to the practice at Singareni. There was a positive response to our demands concerning pending payments to retired employees and salary adjustments, too," they added.

The leaders said that they had chosen to defer the strike only temporarily, taking into account the current national situation, to allow the government some time to resolve their concerns.

"If our issues are not resolved, we will definitely announce a new strike date. This is only a temporary postponement," the JAC leaders said.