48,000 odd employees of TSRTC had been on strike since October 5.
Tension prevailed across many bus depots in the state on Tuesday, as police detained the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) employees who attempted to rejoin their duties. Hundreds of workers were detained and taken into preventive custody. No violence was reported.
Before the employees could reach the depots, a large number of police were deployed across the bus depots. Police were instructed to detain the ‘self-dismissed’ TSRTC employees if they reached the bus depots.
On Monday, after 52 days, the TSRTC- Joint Action Committee (JAC), which is a union comprising four employee unions, called off their strike and asked the 48,000-odd protesting employees to report at their respective depots at 6 am on Tuesday. They claimed that they will continue their protest simultaneously while working.
However, the TSRTC in-charge Managing Director Sunil Sharma refused to take them back, and said that the stand of the JAC was ‘ridiculous.’ He questioned how the employees could resume work and continue with the protest. Further he said that since the strike is ‘illegal’, they are awaiting for the decision of the Labour Commissioner on the matter and warned of legal action against employees who attempt to create a scene and disrupt the bus services.
Fearing protests, the TSRTC sought police protection across its depots on Tuesday. At Jubilee Bus Station in Secunderabad, which is one of the biggest bus depots in Hyderabad, police erected barricades at the entry point. Anyone entering the bus station were forced to prove that they are not TSRTC staff. They made passengers travelling in buses disembark, frisked them and asked to establish their identity, causing inconvenience. Only after verifying their identity, passengers were allowed to enter the premises. If they were identified as TSRTC employee they immediately nabbed them, took down their details--name and bus depot they were working at--and bundled them into police vehicles.
One of the detained employees, SP Sridharan, a senior assistant working at Picket depot alleged, “I have been working in the RTC for 33 years. Never have I seen such an atrocity in the RTC. This is an atrocious behaviour by the Chief Minister.”
Another employee, Dhanraj working as Superintendent said, “We came to resume our work. Why are we being stopped? Why are police arresting us? What crime did we commit?”
It was not just the TSRTC employees who faced harassment from police, even the temporary drivers and conductors were put through the ordeal of establishing their identity.
Pasha, a temporary driver said, “We have not been provided with any identity card by the TSRTC. So, how can we establish our identity?” he sighed.
Similar scenes prevailed across the state where employees came with letters appealing to the Depot Manager to hire them. In Khammam district, which saw intense protest, some women conductors reportedly scaled the top of the Congress office and threatened to jump off the building if they were not allowed to resume their duties.
The TSRTC employees were on strike since October 5, with a list of 26 demands. Among them the primary demand was to merge the TSRTC with the government. However, as the government remained firm and failed to pay heed to their demands despite the High Court advising the government to look for an amicable solution, the JAC had ended their strike on Monday.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister, K Chandrasekhar Rao will be holding a cabinet meeting on Thursday on the TSRTC.
Read: Telangana RTC management refuses to accept employees even as strike called off
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