03 December,2021 10:02 AM IST | Mumbai | Rajendra B. Aklekar
School staffers and Vasai ST bus depot employees with the driver and conductor of an MSRTC bus who returned to work running services for students
The MSRTC workers' strike continues, but buses are being operated for schoolchildren in Vasai and Satara. Grateful villagers from Satara felicitated the bus drivers and conductors for resuming services, as for students, the MSRTC is the only reliable public transport available. Protesting workers at Azad Maidan in Mumbai bore the brunt of unseasonal rains in the city for the past two days sitting in the open without a shelter. But most of them said they were determined to keep the strike going.
Officials said that about 13 buses were being operated for schoolchildren in Vasai as MSRTC buses have been their lifeline in the rural areas. MSRTC is more popular among students in the rural and semi-urban belt as those up to Std XII get 100 per cent concession in fare, while others get 66.66 per cent concession with over 12 lakh students depending on
these buses.
Officials said that with educational institutes resuming classes after the COVID-19 restrictions, students were facing a lot of inconvenience, and local people appealed to MSRTC workers to join work.
At Rahimatpur Satara, villagers felicitated bus drivers and conductors for resuming duty and restoring their lifeline.
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Officials said that of the 92,266 employees on roll, 18,882 had resumed duty on Thursday evening and 73,384 are yet to join duty. On Thursday, 498 employees were suspended taking the total suspensions to 9,141 and 36 employees were dismissed, taking the total dismissals to 1,928. Till 6pm, 1,348 bus services were operated. On Thursday 59 of the 250 depots were opened for bus operations.
MSRTC employees have been on an indefinite strike from October 28 over their demand for merger of the cash-strapped corporation with the state government, and the protest intensified after the Diwali festival. A Bombay High Court appointed committee is looking into this demand and the government has offered an interim salary hike.
