Common People, RTC Employees Fell Victim To KCR’s Arrogance: Congress

Hyderabad, November 29(Maxim News): The Congress party on Friday demanded that Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao tender an unconditional apology to the people of Telangana and RTC employees for the sufferings they experienced in the last two months.

All India Congress Committee (AICC) Spokesperson Dr. Dasoju Sravan, in a media statement, said that the RTC employees went on strike on October 5 with a list of 26 demands. Their main demand was merger of RTC with the State Government which was also an electoral promise of KCR. “KCR stopped salaries of RTC employees for the month of September pushing them into huge financial crisis. Nearly 30 employees died due to heart and about six workers committed suicide. He made senior officials lie before the High Court and created a situation wherein employees lost all their hopes. Consequently, he forced unions to announce unconditional withdrawal of strike and two days later, he agreed to take the employees back. While we welcome the decision of taking back the employees, we regret to say that common people and thousands of employees suffered just because of false ego of KCR,” he said.

Sravan pointed out that none of the 26 demands raised by employees have been fulfilled. Employees lost payment for at least 52 days of strike. Nearly 30 workers lost their lives. KCR Government failed to make adequate alternate arrangements during the strike period and common people were forced to spend extra money on travelling during the last 54 days. Now the people will be forced to pay extra 20 paisa per kilometre from December 1 onwards. On an average, RTC buses ply about 35.29 lakh kilometres per day. Therefore, increase in fare by 20 paisa per kilometre, the overall burden on common people will be of Rs. 7.05 lakh per day or Rs. 25.76 crore per annum, he said.

“KCR has set a bad precedent by not making any efforts to end the strike by holding negotiations with the employees who went on strike. Instead, he turned so cruel that he forced employees to withdraw the strike due to personal financial constraints. By doing so, he has permanently deprived the workers of their right to protest. He also tried to defame the unions so as to prevent the employees from fighting for their rights in future. It is quite disheartening to see that people whose agitation brought statehood for Telangana have now been reduced to entities with no voice or rights. From now on, they will have to just listen to dictates of KCR and obey them without any questioning,” he said.

Referring to the remarks made by the Chief Minister during his press conference on Thursday, Sravan said KCR has claimed that during an event of Constitution Day he was advised by Chief Justice R.S. Chauhan to be sympathetic with RTC employees. “The Chief Justice must clarify his stand on KCR’s remarks. Is it legally or morally permitted for Chief Justice to discuss with the Chief Minister about an issue which is pending in his court. Multiple petitions pertaining to RTC strike are pending in the High Court. Therefore, how could the Chief Justice give any advice to KCR outside the court. Since KCR is a habitual liar, the Chief Justice must clarify whether or not he had a discussion on RTC strike with the Chief Minister. KCR has shown utter disrespect to the court by not obeying its orders on RTC strike. He even forced senior bureaucrats to lie before the High Court to defend his stand on RTC. While KCR has no credibility, by making a mention of Chief Justice in the press conference, he was also trying to tarnish the image and credibility of High Court and Chief Justice,” he said.

Sravan demanded that the Chief Minister convene at least a day-long assembly session to discuss the RTC issue. He said KCR must release a White Paper on the actual financial status of RTC, its assets and liabilities and the factors responsible for them. Further, he said a resolution must be passed in the Assembly rejecting the provisions made in the new Motor Vehicle Act which apparently allows the State Government to privatise RTC. (Maxim News)