Hyderabad, November 25: The 51-day-long strike of Telangana State Road Transport Corporation-Joint Action Committee (TSRTC-JAC) has been called off on Monday. The committee has directed the employees to return to their job with immediate effect. However, the government refuses to take them back. TSRTC MD Sunil Sharma said, that the government will decide only after the Labour court verdict on the issue. Telangana RTC Strike: JAC Offers to Call Off 47-Day Agitation, Wants KCR Govt to Re-Employ Suspended Bus Drivers, Staff Members.

Over 48,000 employees of TSRTC went on to strike on October 5. They were demanding the merger of the TSRTC with the state transport department. Last week, the JAC appealed to the state government to re-employ the suspended bus drivers and other staff members. The KCR-led government in Telangana not only suspended the protesting employees, but also initiated the process to privatise the TSRTC. KCR Should Take Tough Stand on Public Issues, Not on TSRTC Strike: Congress Leader.

The Telangana High Court also pronounced verdict in favour of the state government. The HC on Friday quashed a petition against the state cabinet decision to privatise 5,100 bus routes in the Telangana. A Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice A Abhishek Reddy, dismissed the petition of PL Vishweshwar Rao, vice-president of the Telangana Jana Samithi. The court stated that Section 102 of the Motor Vehicles Act 1998, empowers the state government to privatise the bus routes. Many protesting employees also committed suicide during the agitation.

As per the state government, Rs 640 crore is needed per month to run TSRTC. On November 22, the CMO Telangana stated that the TSRTC has no financial strength to incur this expenditure and due to economic slowdown. An official release of the state government said that the TSRTC as on date has debts of over Rs 5,000 crore and had about Rs 2,000 crore debts and dues to be paid immediately.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 25, 2019 07:40 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).