Leaders of striking unions of the Telangana Road Transport Corporation on Thursday cited the health condition of drivers Kaleem Miya and D Komuriah who suffered massive heart attack and demanded that the government heed the demands of workers.
While Kaleem was from the Hyderabad Central University Depot, Komuriah was from the Chengicherla depot. Both reportedly died on Thursday. Leaders of the TSRTC Joint Action Committee spoke of the drivers soon after the round table meeting with political parties and those organisations which expressed solidarity.
Silent march
Announcing plans to intensify the strike, JAC leader K Raji Reddy said that a silent march would be organised at depots on Saturday after which representations regarding the strike would be made to several legislators. “This is a fight for the survival of the RTC,” he said as he urged people and other unions to support the strike.
JAC leader Ashwathama Reddy said the RTC had a history of bringing together a large number of unions and this strike would continue to have the same spirit. In an oblique attack on honorary members who are politicians, he said ‘only those who are supporting the strike will remain, and those who are not will be deemed to have been removed’.
A meeting of TSRTC unions would be held on Saturday, Mr Reddy said, adding that future plans of the JAC would be announced soon.
Meanwhile, the TSRTC JAC – I, comprising Telangana Jathiya Mazdoor Union, Karmika Sangh, Bahujana Karmika Union, Bahujana Worker Union and Samajika Telangana Mazdoor Union met Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, seeking her intervention.
Earlier in the day, amid tight security, thousands of TSRTC employees across the State staged dharna, protest and walk as part of the strike. “The government cannot dismiss us like this. We have worked hard. We are only asking for our right,” said Mohammed Zameer, a driver from the Farooqnagar depot.
Around the time, similar protest was organised at the Jubilee Bus Station and the Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station. Striking staff carried placards which described according stage-carriage permit to private players as ‘pre-planned murder of the RTC’. There was a sit-in protest at the MGBS where several leaders discussed the government’s plans and announced that they would not back down from the strike. They raised ‘KCR vaddu’ slogans .
