Uddhav urges employees to resume duty and provide relief to commuters
The strike by Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) staff intensified on Wednesday with the opposition BJP backing the protesters even as Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray appealed to the personnel to resume duty and provide relief to commuters.
Stating that this was not the time for parties to indulge in politics, Mr. Thackeray, in a veiled rebuke to the BJP, urged them not to incite transport workers to agitate.
A statement issued by Mr. Thackeray’s office said the Government had been trying its best to give relief to MSRTC workers by accepting their demands.
“You [employees] are ours, not outsiders … the Government has already told the Bombay High Court what steps it is taking to resolve the crisis and the court has expressed its satisfaction. We have also appointed a special committee to look into the matter as directed by the court,” read the statement issued by the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO).
Mr. Thackeray said the Government was still battling the COVID-19 pandemic and appealed to the transport personnel to withdraw their agitation.
Urging the striking employees not to be “influenced” by certain political leaders (of the BJP), Transport Minister Anil Parab said commuters could not be held ‘hostage’ in this manner.
Panel set up
“As per the High Court directives, we have already constituted a three-member committee which will submit its report within 12 weeks … the court’s directives are equally binding on the employees’ unions and it is unfortunate that the transport staff should be agitating thus despite the Government already having accepted most of their demands,” said Mr. Parab.
The Minister said he had already given written assurances to the workers that the remainder of their grievances would be addressed after the Deepavali break.
The Minister stressed that it was not possible to satisfy the prime demand of the striking workers — the merger of the cash-strapped MSRTC with the State Government — in a short span of time.
Stating that those political leaders egging on the employees to agitate would not suffer, the Minister warned the MSRTC employees that the loss would be entirely theirs to bear.
“The High Court has already declared this strike invalid and has directed MSRTC employees to resume work … we do not want to take action against striking employees. The MSRTC has already incurred heavy losses. Despite this, the State Government has already ensured that their salaries were paid,” the Minister said.
Assemble at Azad Maidan
Earlier in the day, MSRTC employees across the State — some, along with their families — converged on Mumbai’s Azad Maidan as more than 200 MSRTC depots across Maharashtra remained completely shut.
BJP leaders including Kirit Somaiya, Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council Pravin Darekar, MLC Gopichand Padalkar, Rayat Kranti Sanghatana chief Sadabhau Khot and Girish Mahajan came out in strong support of the agitators, joining them at the Azad Maidan.
Hitting out at the tripartite Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) Government for its alleged insensitivity in handling the MSRTC crisis, the BJP criticised the Government’s suspension of more than 350 employees on Tuesday for resorting to strike.
Mr. Somaiya and Mr. Padalkar were briefly detained by the police when they attempted to lead a group of protesters to the Mantralaya.
Mr. Somaiya said while the Transport Minister had time for allegedly indulging in financial malpractices, he never bothered about the welfare of MSRTC workers.
“If one takes into account the sheer scale of corruption, the amount has exceeded ₹50,000 crore … this is a Government whose ministers are busy in extortion activities [alluding to former Home Minister Anil Deshmukh], but have no time to pay wages for MSRTC employees,” said Mr. Somaiya.
‘True face revealed’
Mr. Padalkar said Mr. Thackeray and the MVA Government’s step-fatherly treatment of the transport staff had revealed their “true face”.
“When a person takes the extreme step of committing suicide, he is truly in a dire situation. Instead of showing sensitivity, this Government is harassing MSRTC employees by threatening to file contempt petitions against them and suspending them from work,” Mr. Padalkar said.
Mr. Khot claimed that at least 39 MSRTC staff members had committed suicide since March last year.
“Anil Parab asks whether Gopichand Padalkar and myself are willing to take on the responsibility of giving salaries to MSRTC workers … Yes, we are ready to provide for their salaries. But first Anil Parab must tender his resignation,” he said.
The BJP alleged that the MVA Government and the police had repeatedly attempted to thwart the agitation by not allowing several agitators to reach Mumbai.
“However much this Government attempts to obstruct MSRTC employees, they are not going to move from Azad Maidan unless the Chief Minister personally speaks to them or the MVA Government agrees to all its demands,” Mr. Padalkar said.
Meanwhile, more than 200 of the 250 MSRTC bus depots remained shut on Wednesday as well, severely inconveniencing commuters across Maharashtra, especially in the rural hinterland.
To ameliorate the situation, the Government has approved the operation of all private passenger buses, company owned buses and freight vehicles to ferry commuters till the MSRTC strike was called off.
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