Intensifying the pitch for resolution of the demands raised by the striking TSRTC employees, CPI State council assistant secretary K. Sambasiva Rao has decided to launch an indefinite fast from Saturday in support of the agitation launched against the government’s reported moves to privatise the public transport facility.
Mr. Sambasiva Rao said he would sit on fast at Makhdoom Bhavan from Saturday morning. The fast would be launched in the presence of CPI former general secretary S. Sudhakar Reddy, national secretariat member K. Narayana, TJS president M. Kodandaram and others. Similar protests would be held at the district level as the CPI was committed to its struggle for saving the corporation from being privatised.
Speaking to reporters here on Friday, Mr. Sambasiva Rao dismissed the claims that the corporation was running in huge losses and said the employees would turn it back to profits if the government handed over its management to them. While the corporation was staring at losses of ₹3,000 crore, the State government owed reimbursement of ₹2,000 crore that had been given in the form of concessions to various sections.
Diesel prices
He alleged that Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao was bent on privatising the corporation due to his dissatisfaction over the employees unions raising their voice in support of the TSRTC. The employees were demanding the merger of the corporation into the State government while the Chief Minister took a diametrically opposite stand claiming that the TSRTC would not survive any more.
He said the steep rise in the diesel prices over the past few years was the main reason behind the losses incurred by the corporation, but the government was unwilling to provide relief to the corporation by cutting down the taxes. “The Chief Minister who is repeatedly citing the situation of the West Bengal Road Transport Corporation is, however, not speaking about Kerala and Karnataka where the governments reduced the taxes and provided relief to the respective public utilities,” he said.
Mr. Sambasiva Rao also took strong objections to the Chief Minister’s claims on “self dismissal” of the employees and said the people would teach a fitting lesson if he continued with this attitude.
