The strike called by a section of DTC employees unions was called off on Tuesday as the Arvind Kejriwal-led Government increased the compensation for the family of the deceased DTC driver to `15 lakh as against the `5 lakh compensation promised on Sunday. The Government also decided to pay the last-drawn salary of the driver to his widow for the rest of his term of service, and to give jobs to both of his children when they attain the age of 18.
However, earlier in the day, around 3,500 buses were put on road by the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) even as Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) was imposed by the Delhi Government prohibiting any strike by the staff for the next six months.
While the DTC claimed to have put maximum buses on the road, many commuters complained of erratic service in the morning with very few buses plying.
To ensure that the commuters did not face any further inconvenience, the Delhi Government imposed ESMA which prohibits the staff of all departments that provide “essential services” to the citizens from going on strike for a period of six months.
Meanwhile, many commuters complained in the early hours of the morning that they had to wait for a long time for the buses with very few of them plying on the road. Those that were running were overcrowded.
However, in the later part of the day, the frequency of buses was significantly improved. DTC claimed to have put around 3,459 buses on the road in the morning shift.
“We have a schedule for 4,200 buses and we were able to put around 3500 buses on the road by afternoon. So there was a shortage of barely 700 buses on Tuesday, which should further improve by evening,” said RS Minhas, DCGM (PR) of DTC, adding that the 3,459 buses that were put on road was even before ESMA was enforced.
Minhas added that apart from all Regional Managers and Depot Managers of the DTC, all corporate officers also reported to the depots on Tuesday morning to ensure that maximum number of buses was put on the road. He added that videographic evidence was also collected against any miscreants who were trying to stop buses from leaving the depots, or creating any ruckus so that action could be initiated against them.
“Strict action will be taken against anyone found to be obstructing the normal operation of the buses and show-cause notice will be issued to all those who didn’t report to work. If enough evidence is found against them, they will be dismissed from duty as is enabled by the Haryana Essential Services Maintenance Act,” added Minhas.
It must be noted that ESMA was last evoked over a DTC workers strike in 1988 when over three thousand employees were dismissed from duty with immediate effect.
DTC officials assured that services would be back to normal by Wednesday. They have been notifying all employees about the enforcement of ESMA through their concerned officers and notice boards in all the depots of DTC. An announcement on the same was also being made through public addressing system in all the depots/units, said a release issued by the DTC.
The DTC workers had been protesting the killing of one of the DTC drivers who was beaten to death in case of a road rage incident. A 42-year-old DTC bus driver, Ashok Kumar, was on Sunday beaten to death in broad daylight allegedly by a youth after his bus grazed the latter’s bike in the Mundka area of West Delhi. The incident led to a protest by the employees of the Government-run agency who have been demanding security for DTC’s bus staffers and a compensation of `1 crore for the deceased’s family.
The AAP Government had earlier announced a compensation of `5 lakh to the deceased’s family and a job for one of his children. It had also announced that it would bear all medical expenses of the deceased driver’s wife.