State to immediately release funds for MSRTC employees’ January salaries

The state government has decided to immediately release funds to the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) towards the salaries of its employees for the month of January

The state government has decided to immediately release funds to the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) towards the salaries of its employees for the month of January.

HT Image

The corporation has been grappling with financial issues for some time. Its employees had in 2021 gone on a strike after which the state released financial aid. But now MSRTC has asked for another ₹1,000 crore.

Parrag Jaiin Nainutia, principal secretary with the state transport department, told HT: “We had a meeting with chief secretary Manukumar Srivastava on Wednesday evening, and it was decided to pay salaries for January immediately.”

A public interest litigation petition was filed in the industrial court on August 23, 2021, and the employees were assured of regular salaries, said Sandeep Shinde, president of Maharashtra ST Kamgar Sanghatana. “However, despite our agitation and various cases, we are not getting salaries on time.’’

The financial condition of MSRTC was hit the most during the pandemic when restrictions were imposed by the state in 2021. Protesting the delay in payment of salaries, the employees began an agitation after Diwali. In April 2022, the employees took out a morcha to the residence of Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar. Following this, the government granted financial aid to the corporation.

Another official said some unions were planning an agitation again if salaries were not paid.

MSRTC provides services across the state and in Mumbai, it has four depots at Mumbai Central, Parel, Kurla, and Borivali. Its Shivneri service connecting Mumbai and Pune is quite popular. There are around 87,000 employees, and the corporation has nearly 16,000 buses on its fleet.