MSRTC strike disrupts transport in Pune division

As the action committee of 11 ST workers’ unions in the state has declared a strike, 35 out of 251 depots were entirely closed on Tuesday

With only a few days until the Ganeshotsav begins, the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) bus services have been hampered in Maharashtra since Tuesday morning. On behalf of the ST workers’ joint action committee, a strike has been called at all ST depots across the state owing to their pending demands not being accepted.  

With only a few days until the Ganeshotsav begins, the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) bus services have been hampered in Maharashtra since Tuesday morning. (HT FILE)

As the action committee of 11 ST workers’ unions in the state has declared a strike, 35 out of 251 depots were entirely closed on Tuesday. This strike had a significant impact on the MSRTC Pune division, with around 60% of ST bus operations disrupted in all ST depots and stands.   

Not much impact was felt on the Pune-Mumbai route as the Shivneri and E-Shivai buses running on this route are operated by private contractors. However, a few ferries of Shivneri buses as well as other ST buses on the Pune-Nashik route were hampered by the strike. 

“When I reached the Sangamwadi ST stand on Tuesday afternoon to board the Nashik bus, no service was available. When I enquired, I got to know that due to the strike called by the MSRTC workers, many of the buses on the Nashik route were cancelled. So finally, I had to take a private tourist bus and travel,” said Nikhil Rathi, a passenger.  

Since the morning, there had been an uptick of commuters at the Swargate, Sangamwadi, and Pune railway stations bus stands in the city. However, only a few buses were operating on planned routes throughout the state.   

“I arrived at Swargate ST stand at 10.30 am to catch the bus to Kolhapur, but no buses were running on this route, so I had to wait for more than an hour. Finally, I got a private tourist bus with exorbitant fees and continued my journey,” stated Santosh Arghade, a passenger.   

In the Pune district - ST stands at Vallabhnagar, Bhor, Saswad, Baramati, and Talegaon - are all closed.   

In the Sangli area, Miraj, Jat, and Palus stands are fully closed, while the Karad, Vaduj, and Mahabaleshwar depots in Satara district are non-operational.   

The Khandesh, Nashik, Pimpalgaon, and Peth depots in Nashik district, as well as the Bhusawal and Chalisgaon depots in Jalgaon district, are entirely shut.   

Commenting on the development, Sachin Shinde, divisional traffic officer, MSRTC Pune said, “There is an impact of the workers strike in Pune division, as 60 per cent of the fleet is grounded. The major impact is felt on the Satara, Sangli, Solapur, Nashik, Ahmednagar and parts of the Pune district routes. There is not much impact on the Mumbai route as the private contractors run those buses.”  

Staffers demand  

Considering the dissatisfaction among the workers due to the non-resolution of issues of the MSRTC workers, a joint action committee was formed. Through the committee demands were made that MSRTC workers should be paid like state government employees, along with giving the 7th pay commission to the employees, paying the arrears of dearness allowance, removing the errors in the previous contract, along with this, applying the medical cashless scheme to all the employees.   

Dilip Parab, secretary of Pune district MSRTC workers’ unions said, “We had 3 to 4 meetings with the state government on Tuesday and with minister Uday Samant in Mumbai, but no firm assurance was given to us about our demands. A meeting is scheduled with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday, and till our demands are met, we will continue the strike.”