The state government is all set to take strict action against the protesting Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MRTC) workers who haven’t resumed duties till Thursday, March 31, as per the ultimatum issued earlier by state deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar.
Till Thursday, more than 45,000 workers have not resumed duties despite several rounds of talks between the transport department and the leaders of the protesting workers.
“Today was the last day for the workers to join back and in the evening, we will get the exact number as to how many of them have joined and how many have still not joined work. We tried our best to have talks with them and till now, seven rounds of talks have been held but they think that only talks are taking place and no action is being taken. But to prove them wrong, we will now take strict action against those workers who do not resume duties even after March 31,” said Anil Parab, state transport minister.
About alternative plans for state transport bus operations in the state, he said, “We have already floated a tender for recruiting 11,000 contract- based drivers and conductors across the state. Also our routes in the rural areas have been finalised and very soon, we are going to increase our bus operations across the depots. And those who do not resume work, we will assume that they do not need the job and so strict action will be taken against them.”
{{/usCountry}}About alternative plans for state transport bus operations in the state, he said, “We have already floated a tender for recruiting 11,000 contract- based drivers and conductors across the state. Also our routes in the rural areas have been finalised and very soon, we are going to increase our bus operations across the depots. And those who do not resume work, we will assume that they do not need the job and so strict action will be taken against them.”
{{/usCountry}}Since the past over four months, the MSRTC workers and their unions have been protesting for various demands. A Kruti Samiti of the unions was formed earlier to strike a conversation with the state government. But apparently, the main demand of merging the MSRTC with the state government was compromised according to the workers, so now all the workers (apart from the union members) have spontaneously started the strike.
“Currently, there are around 5,000 bus operations going on daily in the state. Earlier, this number was nearly 12,000 bus operations. We are expecting to take this number back to pre-protest days with 10,000 daily bus operations and new contract-basis workers joining duties,” said Parab.