As employees of Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) continued their strike on Tuesday, district officials managed to operate nearly 70% of buses across Vellore district.
Officials said TNSTC, Vellore region, operated a total of 415 mofussil services and 251 town buses. “We operated 65% buses by 4 p.m. At the end of the day, more than 70% buses were operated in Vellore,” an official said.
Apart from roping in school bus drivers, TNSTC had also brought in those who took driving training at the Institute of Road Transport.
Private buses were fully operational in the district. D. Vijaya Govindarajan, president of Vellore District Bus Owners Association said there were nearly 300 private buses in Vellore.
“All the buses are operating non-stop without causing any difficulty to the public,” he said.
Meanwhile, as many as 300 to 350 employees staged a demonstration in front of the TNSTC office near Rangapuram on National Highway 48.
The employees have been demanding wage revision and settlement of arrears for retired employees.
S. Parasuraman, general secretary of CITU, Vellore, said about 30% to 40% bus services were operated in Vellore on Tuesday.
Commercial Taxes Minister K.C. Veeramani inspected the operation of buses at the New Bus Stand. Collector S.A. Raman and Superintendent of Police P. Pakalavan were present.
The Minister earlier inspected the bus termini at Tirupattur, Vaniyambadi and Ambur.
Tiruvannamalai
Over 50% of buses were operated with fewer passengers in Tiruvannamalai.
Workers attempted to stage a demonstration at the bus stand here. However, police denied them permission and the protest plan was dropped.
K. Soundarrajan, president of Thozhilalar Munnetra Sangam Peravai, said 75% of buses to places such as Chennai and Bengaluru were not operated.
“They operate buses to the short distance destinations like Kallakkurichi, Tirukkoilur etc. and count those buses to claim that a large number of buses were operated,” he said.
However, TNSTC officials claimed that over 90% of buses were operated but with fewer number of passengers.
