Bus service was started from Dhule bus depot today after the 24 days of strike over the sacking of MSTRC bus drivers. While the employees of State Transport Corporation are on strike, bus service was started today by hiring candidates from the waiting list.
The Dhule Transport Department has started bus service by recruiting employees who have already been selected for ST recruitment but have not yet joined the service. As the ST bus was leaving the Dhule ST depot, the agitating ST workers were seen shouting.
However, as the buses left from Shule depot to arriving at Nardana, they were pelted with stones despite the police escort. Incidentally, all four buses were diverted to another route.
There has been a sense of fear within the newly hired bus drives after one bus drive sustained injuries from stone pelting and demanded more security from the state.
Following the incident, the police administration has instructed the depot chief to inform the route before leaving the bus. However, the bus services were halted again following the stone-pelting incidents.
The Maharashtra government on Saturday terminated the services of 380 MSRTC employees for refusing to end the ongoing strike which continued on the 24th day, an official said.
Further, 161 employees were suspended during the day, taking the total of suspended employees to 2,937. Transport minister Anil Parab, meanwhile, said the government was ready to discuss everything except the demand for the merger.
So far, the government has sacked 618 of over 90,000 employees of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation, the state-run bus service, for not joining duty despite several appeals. The corporation managed to run 143 buses, transporting 4,280 passengers in total, on Saturday.
