‘Pay dad’s salary; had to stop classes’
MUMBAI: A video of a Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) employee’s daughter appealing to the state government to ensure the pending salaries of the staff are paid immediately created a flutter on Monday. In the video, the teenager said her father was under constant stress for the past few days as he has not received his salary for two months.
MSRTC which runs state transport bus service across the state is in poor financial state, due to which staffers are not being paid salaries in time. Last week, an MSRTC employee died by suicide in Dhule citing that he was fed up with delays in salary, low salary and inability to pay his debt.
The girl, who identified herself as Harshada, said she had to stop taking tuitions as her father did not have money to pay the fees. Her father works as a driver in Yavatmal bus depot. “I request the government to provide salary of MSRTC employees as soon as possible. It should not happen that my father also has to take any extreme step. I request you with folded hands to please give us our salaries,” she said.
MSRTC employees said they have not received salary since July and added that the irregular disbursement of salaries has been happening for over a year.
Jagnarayan Kahar, general secretary of MSRTC Kamgar
Union, said July salaries have not been received due to which employees are forced to take such extreme steps. “We will be protesting outside all MSRTC bus depots. The work will go on but protests outside bus depots will be done after work,” he said.
MSRTC officials said over the past year the organisation has suffered losses and also assured that salaries of the employees would be disbursed immediately.
“We request employees not to take any extreme steps. Discussions with the deputy chief minister have been done and the payments will be made immediately,” said MSRTC managing director Shekhar Channe.