Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) employees from 59 city bus depots and 250 depots across Maharashtra continued their strike on Thursday.
They have demanded the corporation’s merger into the state government to avoid further deterioration of finances. The strike at the time of Diwali has caused severe hardships to commuters. Transport Minister Anil Parab had assured the body that the talks would be possible only after the festival. But the employees are not in a mood to listen to the minister as they want immediate action. As reported, the MSRTC unions had staged agitation last week and announced their decision to go on strike from October 27.
The government’s efforts to negotiate with them failed. The unions also said that the state governments run the state transport in Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat. The unions have also announced that they will take out morcha at Vidhan Bhavan during the winter session in Nagpur to press for MSRTC’s merger with the state government. They also demanded that the pay commission’s benefit be given to MSRTC employees like other state government employees, as promised in the election manifesto of MVA.
