After being on an indefinite strike for 27 days, the RTC Joint Action Committee announced on Saturday night that the strike has been called off.
The RTC JAC took the decision after having a series of talks with transport minister Botsa Satyanarayana and the TJAC chairman Prof. Kodandaram. With this, all RTC services in the Telangana region will resume from Sunday.
A week ago, the APSRTC’s recognised union, National Mazdoor Union (NMU), had called off the RTC strike. This had led to wide protests among the Telangana forum of the NMU giving rise to differences among the union leaders.
In several Telangana districts, the RTC could not run the services during the week as the NMU’s T forum employees had not returned to their duties.
The corporation has incurred more than Rs 150 crore as operational loss during the stir. Mr Botsa Satyanarayana had called for fresh talks with the RTC JAC union leaders Anandam, convenor Thamas Reddy and others, asking them to call off the strike.
After elaborate discussions, the TJAC agreed to respond “positively” to the situation, but stated that a firm decision would be taken after having talks with the chairman of political JAC, Prof Kodandaram. After talks with Prof. Kodandaram, the JAC stated that the RTC strike would be called off.
“The strike has been called off considering the financial position of the RTC and the problems faced by the public. We know that people were supporting us even when the strike was on,” said Prof Kodandaram.
However, Mr Anandam said they will not compromise on the Telangana statehood demand despite calling off the strike.
Source : DC