Govt offers pay hike, urges ST employees to end stir; leaders say need a day to decide

In a bid to end the ongoing stir of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) employees, the state government on Wednesday announced a pay hike for the ST employees

In a bid to end the ongoing strike of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) employees, the state government on Wednesday announced a salary hike for the state transport (ST) employees. Transport minister Anil Parab also said that the state government cannot decide on the workers’ primary demand to merge the MSRTC with the state government, as the issue is currently being looked into by a court-appointed committee. The strike, which has almost paralysed parts of rural Maharashtra, where the ST buses are the main mode of public transport, is unlikely to end on Wednesday as the leaders of ST employees have sought a day to mull over the government’s offer.

The stir, which has almost paralysed parts of rural Maharashtra, where the ST buses are the main mode of public transport, is unlikely to end on Wednesday as the leaders of ST employees have sought a day to mull over the government’s offer on a pay hike. (HT PHOTO)

The ST strike commenced just ahead of Diwali and later gathered momentum as the state’s principal opposition party, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), backed and even led the workers. The ruling Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) leader alleged that BJP was fuelling the stir to corner the state government.

After hectic parleys between the state and ST workers’ delegation, and a series of meetings between Parab, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, who is admitted to a city hospital, Parab announced the hike in basic salary of the employees, which will come into effect from next month. The revised salary is expected to put an additional burden of about ₹750 crore annually on the MSRTC, the minister said.

According to Parab, the hike in pay ranges from ₹7,200 to ₹3,600 depending on the category and number of years in service. “The state government has decided to hike the basic salary of the employees. We have given a 41% increase in the salary, which is the biggest hike in the history of ST,” said Parab, who was flanked by his cabinet colleague Uday Samant and BJP legislators Gopichand Padalkar and Sadabhau Khot, who was leading the delegation of ST workers. The minister also said that the corporation will ensure that the salaries of the employees will be paid before the 10th of every month. ST workers had complained that the salaries were delayed for several weeks and months.

The minister further added, “For employees up to 10 years of service, we have made an increase of ₹5,000. Those who got ₹16,800 gross pay, will now get ₹24,000, which is a hike of ₹7,200. For the employees who are between 10 and 20 years of service, we have given them a raise of ₹4,000 in their basic pay. Therefore, who had basic pay of ₹16,000, their revised basic pay is now 23,040. For employees with over 20 years of service, we have increased the basic pay by ₹2,500. If their basic salary was ₹26,000 and their gross pay was ₹37,440, will now get ₹41,040. Those who had basic pay of ₹37,000 and gross pay was ₹53,280, their revised pay will now be ₹56,280.”

Parab appealed to the employees to end the stir and resume their service from Thursday or Friday (for those who are Mumbai). “Whatever the state government could do, it has done so far. Despite being in financial loss, the state had given a salary hike. The state cannot decide on the merger, as the court-appointed committee would decide on that. The state would accept the decision of the committee. If the strike does not end, the state will act with whatever means available to it,” Parab said.

The MSRTC was affected the most due to the Covid-19 induced lockdown and restrictions. The ST’s daily revenue is around ₹22 crore, however, it incurred a loss worth several crores during the lockdown.

Meanwhile, the ST workers who have camped at Azad Maidan, in Mumbai, are still firm to their demand on the merger. A section of the workers on strike said that their demand was for a merger with the state government and not a hike in salary. After the government’s announcement, Padalkar and Khot told workers at Azad Maidan that a decision will be made in consultation with them.

“The government has made the announcement. We will stay back at Azad Maidan and will discuss this with the worker here. We have so far not announced if we have accepted their announcement. The figures they have announced will be verified by some experts. We will announce our stand tomorrow (Thursday),” Khot said. The former minister of state in the BJP-led government said that the stir will continue till the discussions finish within the delegation. “We need at least a day to discuss and decide.”