05 November,2021 07:35 AM IST | Mumbai | Rajendra B. Aklekar
MSRTC employees during a protest at Ausa, Latur, last week
Protests continue to plague one of the country's biggest, but loss-making bus undertakings, the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC), even as the court asked its employees to refrain from doing so on Thursday, affecting crucial bus operations on Diwali.
As per trade union leaders, about 58 of the 250 bus depots remained shut on Thursday morning as employees protested, seeking aid for the cash-strapped corporation from the Maharashtra government.
Fuelled by political parties, a section of MSRTC employees have been on an unannounced strike since October 28 seeking the undertaking's merger with the state government. The Bombay High Court, while hearing an urgent leave petition filed by the MSRTC on November 3 evening, directed the corporation's employees to refrain from going on strike.
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Protesting staffers were going around in groups all over the state, stopping bus drivers and conductors and putting garlands around their necks for working, then allegedly stopping operations.
"In the morning, about 58 depots remained shut. Though they then opened for some time, by afternoon again they were closed down, taking the figure back to 58. Surprisingly, so many depots have remained shut and the general public have not complained or called. There are alternative means of transport available and also due to the pandemic restrictions, when the depots remained shut, people have lost touch. This means that the relevance of MSRTC buses is slowly dwindling, which is a dangerous sign," a trade union leader said.
Maharashtra transport minister and chairman of MSRTC Anil Parab on November 3 said a discussion on the demand for merger of the MSRTC with the state government and other issues related to the loss-making corporation will be taken up after Diwali.
