The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : APSRTC strike suspended

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Thursday, Jul 07, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

APSRTC strike suspended

Staff Reporter

Interim direction by High Court; buses back on the road

HYDERABAD: Buses of the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) were back on the road on Wednesday evening after a gap of three days as the Joint Action Committee of the employees unions suspended the strike for three weeks on the intervention of the State High Court.

The resumption of bus services came as a big relief to commuters in cities and towns as well as to the long distance passengers who had suffered severe hardship since Monday when the 1.18 lakh employees of the public sector APSRTC began the strike.

The relief came through an interim direction issued by a Division Bench of the High Court comprising the Acting Chief Justice, Bilal Nazki, and Justice G. Chandraiah. After hearing the arguments from 10.30 a.m., the Bench impressed upon both parties to keep the public cause in mind.

Counsel for the agitating workmen, G. Vidyasagar, said that as the new committee proposed by the court on Tuesday might take some time to come to grips with the finer points of the dispute, the JAC was ready to negotiate with the Cabinet sub-committee. At that stage, the Bench said that the workmen should also indicate whether they would withdraw the strike.

When counsel requested the court to direct the Government to release Rs. 500 crores to the corporation, the Advocate-General, C.V. Mohan Reddy, said the Government was not in a position to release such a huge amount within two or three days. The court was adjourned to meet at 1 p.m. when it recorded the understanding on four issues and adjourned the matter after four weeks so that the outcome could be reported to it.

According to this understanding, the Government would immediately implement all those issues agreed upon between the management and the employees. They include reduction of motor vehicle tax, total reimbursement of concessions, induction of two union leaders into the corporation's Board of Directors and giving up the practice of hiring buses.

Secondly, the Cabinet sub-committee would resolve pending issues within three weeks by holding talks with the management and the JAC. There would be no victimisation or any disciplinary action against the employees who participated in the strike, including casual and contract employees.

Finally, instead of allocating Rs. 250 crores as operating expenses to offset the hike in prices, the Government would ensure that no bus stopped for want of diesel.

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