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MSRTC stalemate on: Lakhs of passengers face hardships as buses stay off road.

    More than 65 lakh passengers travel by ST buses across the state every day
    MSRTC has taken hit of Rs 22 crore because of loss of revenue during the Diwali peak season
    Union demands implementation of 7th pay commission and interim relief of 25 per cent

MUMBAI: Lakhs of passengers were inconvenienced+ across Maharashtra as state transport corporation buses stayed off the road because of the indefinite strike call given by the union to demand implementation of 7th pay commission and interim relief of 25 per cent hike in salary.

Of the 58,000 buses that run daily, only 681 trips were made in the entire day. Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) has taken hit of Rs 22 crore because of loss of revenue during the Diwali peak season. More than 65 lakh passengers travel by ST buses across the state every day.

Maharashtra State Transport Kamgar Sangathna have demanded that implementation of 7th pay commission recommendations. Union leader Sandeep Shinde said, "The strike was 100 per cent successful and the state government is responsible for bringing hardship of the people on the eve of Diwali for not accepting out demands."

He also blamed the transport ministry for provoking the workers by allowing private buses to operate from the depot and also threatening workers with action, instead of resolving the issue through talks.

All the major bus depots, including Mumbai Central, Kurla, Borivali, etc wore deserted look as none of the buses operated. The union had deployed its representative to prevent buses from coming out.

The state transport corporation has decided to refund money to those who had already reserved tickets during this period.

Employees of Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) continued their strike after talks between them and government officials failed again on Tuesday, inconveniencing scores of commuters the first day of Diwali.

Even as the state government has decided to form a committee to study their basic demand of a interim pay hike and implementation of the 7th pay commission, employees’ union was not convinced.

The employees are demanding implementation of 7th pay commission and interim hike of 25 per cent till the recommendations are implemented. The government has agreed to interim hike of 10 per cent but unions are opposed to this as it will only fetch Rs 600-700 for those with a basic salary of Rs 7000 to Rs 8,000.

Transport minister Diwakar Raote has slammed the MSRTC union for going ahead with the strike and inconveniencing commuters during the festive season.

"All the courts including labour court and Industrial court has held this strike as illegal," said Raote. He said that he agrees to their demand of a salary hike, but the government is in no situation to fulfill their demands just as yet.

"Just to get what they want they shouldn’t hold commuters to ransom," said Raote.

The state government has decided to allow private buses like school buses, tourist buses to ply as state transport bus ferrying commuters to their destination. Till Tuesday evening yearly 3800 private buses were pressed into service across the state.

CommuterSpeak
Priyanka Pawar, "I had plans to come to Mumbai from Baramati visit my father who is admitted to hospital. The strike has angered me a lot because I wanted to meet him desperately."

Sudhesh Rane, "I had booked ticket for well in advance to visit Satara during Diwali. I had taken leaves six months ago. The greedy and selfish unions have put paid to my plan."

Twitter reactions

Jitu J? @JituJoshi7
Take serious actions, people are getting suffered coz of ur lack of ’sense of urgency’ work on #MSRTCStrike issue quickly

Sajan? @Pbmata 6h6 hours ago
Time has come to roll back salaries. Reduceelected members salary and perks by half.