Hyderabad: public transport services in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh remained paralyzed on Wednesday as more than one lakh employees went on strike, forcing some 20,000 government buses off the roads in the two states.
All long distance buses and city services came to a standstill in the two states, causing serious inconvenience to passengers.
In Andhra Pradesh, a total of 10,576 Andhra Pradesh Transport Service Corporation (APSRTC) buses were off the roads, while in Telangana 9,370 buses were confined to deposits.
Students, office goers, holidayers and pilgrims in Tirupati were hit hard by the strike. The employees went on strike from midnight, demanding wage 43 on par with other government employees in the two states review.
The APSRTC management has rejected the lawsuit alleging poor financial situation of the organization and also the process of bifurcation is under process.
The management is trying to use the services of employees hired to operate certain services. This led to a clash between striking workers and workers employed in parts of Telangana.
Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station (MGBS) in Hyderabad, where thousands of buses run daily to Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and neighboring states, had a deserted look.
Hundreds of passengers were stranded in the MGBS, Jubliee Bus Station in Secunderabad and bus stations in Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Tirupati and other places.
No less than 3,500 buses roads of Great Hyderabad went out. APSRTC managing director N. Sambasiva Rao said the demand for higher wages can only be met by increasing the bus fares by 15 to 20 percent.
He also said it was not possible to meet the demand at this stage as the APSRTC it splits into two units for the two states since May 14.
Transport Minister Telangana Mahender Reddy has appealed to the workers to suspend their strike in view of the difficulties caused to people, adding that the RTC was making efforts to provide partial services.
Hundreds of thousands of travelers in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are difficult times, with over 1.2 lakh employees of Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) through an indefinite strike from midnight on Tuesday in support of its demand wage increase.
More than 22,300 buses world’s largest carrier will be off the roads. However, the impact of the strike will be felt Wednesday morning.
With several rounds of talks between representatives of trade unions and governments of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana that employees take off on Tuesday, RTC employees decided to continue with your exercise plan.
K Chandrasekhar Rao in a meeting with ministers and officials of the RTC, a statement from his office said.
The special supplement wages announced earlier state government employees after the completion of the demand for an independent state.
Around 56,000 employees of the RTC to benefit from the movement said.
Rao approved the logo and design of buses for Telangana RTC, after the division of Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC), the statement said, adding that the government has decided to run luxury buses about 60 cities and villages in Telangana to Hyderabad.
Noting that RTC incurred losses due to various reasons, Rao said employees and workers need to save the organization, working hard, he added.
