Two days after state transport minister Anil Parab’s warning, the services of 238 daily wage workers of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) were terminated and 297 employees were suspended on Friday as they refused to join work.
As reported by the Free Press Journal, notices were sent to 2,296 daily wage workers and the services of 238 have been terminated in the first phase, and further action will follow. The MSRTC has swung into action as the employees have refused to call off their strike despite repeated appeals by the state government for talks.
An official said, “Earlier this week, a total of 2,296 of 2,584 daily wage workers were served notices asking them to join duty within 24 hours, but only 32 reported to work. We have also suspended 297 employees on Friday, taking the total number who have faced this action to 2,776.”
Parab on Saturday at the MSRTC’s headquarters met representatives of one of the unions to discuss their demands. BJP legislators Gopichand Padalkar and Sadabhau Khot, who are camping at Azad Maidan with striking employees, were not invited for the meeting.
Parab has said the MSRTC will recruit candidates from the waiting list which was considered during the previous recruitments if the workers do not report to work. Currently, the MSRTC management is assessing the waiting lists of 2016-17 and 2019.
