Even as the strike by the State Road Transport Corporation employees continued on fourth day today causing immense hardship to the people in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad High Court on Saturday declared the strike as illegal and ordered the employees to immediately resume their duties.
On two different motions moved by a Telugu Desam leader Venkat Rao and a Chittoor resident Mohammed Ghouse. the High Court passed an interim order declaring that the strike by RTC employees amounts to disrupting the essential services at a time when there was a ban on strike in both the states.
The court fixed the next hearing of the case on May 12. 1,20,000 employees of the RTC have gone on strike demanding 43 per cent hike in their wages at par with the other State Government employees in both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. RTC has plunged in to a deep crisis at a time when only four days were left for the formal division of the corporation between the two states.
Counsel for petitioner told the court that the strike by the RTC had badly hit the normal life and caused sufferings to the commuters, students and the patients. The court issued notices to the Chief Secretaries of the two states, the management of the corporation and the leaders of RTC employees unions.
Meanwhile RTC management has announced that it will regularize all the 3000 odd contract employees if they return to work immediately. The move was being seen as a last ditch attempt by the management to restore at least 40% of the services. More than 20,000 buses of RTC were off the roads and management was able to run only skeletal service with the help of contract and temporary workers.
Management today issued the orders that the services of contract workers joining the duty should be regularized immediately. Meanwhile Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu asked the RTC employees union leaders to meet the cabinet sub committee for talks and find an amicable settlement on their demands.