MSRTC stir enters 33rd day; 1,300-odd staffers suspended, over 1,000 buses operated

Protesting MSRTC employees at Azad Maidan. File Pic

The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) on Monday suspended 1,088 permanent and 254 temporary employees, officials said, adding that it operated over 1,000 buses from some 50 depots on the 33rd day of the staffers' agitation.

The staffers have been on strike since October 28 demanding merger of the cash-strapped undertaking with the state government, with the agitation intensifying from November 9 when bus operations at all its 250 depots got affected.

An MSRTC official on Monday said the latest round of suspensions had taken the cumulative number of suspended permanent and daily wage or temporary employees to 7,585 and 1,779, respectively.

"MSRTC operated 1,086 buses, including 822 ordinary ones, on various routes from 50 depots till Monday evening. A total of 19,163 out of 92,266 employees joined duty on Monday, including 2,549 drivers and 2,250 conductors.This is a rise from the 18,375 employees who reported to work on Sunday," a spokesperson for the undertaking said.

The stir continues despite the state government announcing a 41 per cent salary hike last week to break the impasse.

MSRTC has a fleet of 16,000 buses and over 92,000 employees, and used to ferry more than 65 lakh people per day before the COVID-19 outbreak in March last year hit operations severely.

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