There was no immediate end in sight for the five-day-old strike by the crew of Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) despite hectic parleys with the employee unions by the governments of both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh on Sunday.
The unions were unrelenting in their demand for 43 per cent pay hike, but the governments conceded only 27 per cent.
The Cabinet sub-committees of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh met the unions separately on Sunday amidst reports of improvement in services due to operation of hired buses and drivers.
The unions met the committee members Nayani Narasimha Reddy, Etala Rajender and P. Mahender Reddy twice during the day as Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao also gathered inputs from the panel to update himself about the situation.
A release from the CMO, after the committee met him, said that Mr. Rao had asked the panel to submit a report as early as possible and, immediately thereafter, a decisive announcement will be made. He also wanted the committee to arrive at an appropriate and positive conclusion.
The leaders of Telangana Mazdoor Union which is leading the strike in Telangana announced at the end of the second round of talks with the committee in the evening that the agitation would continue as their demand was not met. The committee had invited them for negotiations again at 11.30 a.m. on Monday.
Home Minister Nayani Narasimha Reddy said on the other hand that the union leaders were unrelenting in their demand of 43 per cent pay hike. Considering the current financial health of the corporation, there was no way such a demand could be conceded, he said, adding however, that he was hopeful of arriving at a mutually agreeable solution during Monday’s meeting.
Mr. Aswadhama Reddy of TMU maintained that this was a do-or-die situation for the employees who were eagerly awaiting the pay hike for the past 25 months. He said the talks were cordial, but the government was not yielding to the employees’ demand.
