KCR goes one up on Naidu, to hand over RTC to GHMC Telangana CM waited for AP counterpart to make a move; embarrasses AP government, wins favour with government staff KCR HINTS AT BUS FARE HIKE Contempt notice to RTC unions
Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao scored a point over his Andhra Pradesh counterpart N. Chandrababu Naidu on Monday by announcing a 44 per cent fitment (salary hike) for the RTC employees.
Mr Rao disclosed his plans of handing over the urban public transport system in the city (RTC buses) to the GHMC along the lines of global cities where the urban transport system is managed by local bodies. The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has been asked to bear the `200 crore RTC subsidy initially. He said that he would insist that the Centre bear the RTC’s losses as it owned 33 per cent equity in the corporation.
Mr Rao had earlier pushed Mr Naidu into a “defensive mode” by announcing 43 per cent fitment for TS government employees ahead of AP, in February this year. This had triggered a similar demand from AP employees, forcing Mr Naidu to follow in the footsteps of Mr Rao.
But in RTC’s case, Mr Rao adopted a “strategic stand” by waiting for the Andhra Pradesh government to announce the hike first.
When Andhra Pradesh announced a 43 per cent hike at around 3 pm, Mr Rao surprised everyone by announcing a 44 per cent hike at around 4.15 pm, though the RTC employees had demanded only 43 per cent.
Mr Rao “killed two birds with one stone” with this announcement — one he has embarrassed the Andhra Pradesh government and second he has won the hearts of Telangana State employees again as an “employee-friendly government”.
Mr Rao said, “The Road Transport Corporation (RTC) is a great organisation, but it had been deliberately pushed into crisis due to the flawed policies of the successive governments of united Andhra Pradesh. TSRTC now has a loan burden of `1,900 crore and operational losses of `400 crore. But we are confident of bringing RTC back into the green.”
Mr Rao added, “When I was transport minister in the late 1990s, RTC had accumulated losses of `10.85 crore. But within two years, I wiped off all these losses and earned `11 crore profits by adopting better policies.” The RTC employees on Wednesday called off their strike after the governments of AP and TS responded positively to their demands.
The 43 per cent fitment given by the AP government will mean an additional `960 crore burden on APSRTC. The Telangana CM also hinted at a fare hike saying that a hike was now inevitable.
The recognised RTC Employees’ Union and Telangana Mazdoor Union were on strike, agitating over the immediate bifurcation of the corporation and for 43 per cent fitment.
“The operational losses are close to `208 crore in both states. There were losses of `15 crore daily in Telangana and `11 crore in AP,” said a senior RTC official.
Meanwhile, the RTC bifurcation process has had a setback due to the strike. Although officers have been allocated to the states, posts have not been allocated. A vacation bench of the Hyderabad HC on Wednesday issued notices to the leaders of trade unions of RTC under Contempt of Courts Act, seeking their explanation for not obeying its orders to join duty immediately. The bench granted liberty to the RTC to invoke the ESMA against the striking staff. While issuing the notices, the bench also gave liberty to the AP and TS governments to take disciplinary action against defiant staff while making alternative arrangements.
The bench also directed the DGPs of both the states to provide security to the buses plying during the strike.
On Tuesday, the bench had granted 24-hour time to the striking staff to call off the strike. On Wednesday, after commencing the hearing, the bench asked the counsel representing the RTC unions, whether the strike was withdrawn. The counsel said the union leaders are still talking with both the governments.
The bench said it is not concerned with the meetings and directed the registry to list the case to first week of June. The respondent union leaders have to file their replies to the notices issued under the Contempt of Courts Act.