Mumbai: With employee strikes entering the 23rd day on Friday, MSRTC suspended 297 workers, took the total number of suspensions to 2,776, and stopped the services of 238 daily wage workers, an official said.
And to tense the employee crisis, management has decided to recruit new recruitment for driver positions, conductors, and clergy on the basis of daily wages to operate the fleet of buses lying in 250 depots throughout Maharashtra.
The source said that more than 2,000 drivers and conductors tended to be recruited immediately.
“Most of them will be from the list of waiting for our previous candidates who must agree to our new terms and conditions and work during the crisis situation,” said a senior official.
MSRTC has issued a stop notification to 2,296 drivers of wages every day, conductors and several other staff because they did not report assignments despite being called in an emergency.
State Transport Corporation will also sign a new contract to rent 500 buses with the driver, which will operate it on ‘wet rent’, to transport commuter lakh throughout Maharashtra.
Private vehicles will operate on the LAL lines of the Standard Non-AC Standard MSRTC-and fill normal costs, said an official.
The Minister of Transportation Anil Paratab said there was no proposal to “privatize” MSRTC at this time, but they would study other country transportation companies to explore solutions.
“…
this (privatization) is also an option, but there are no proposals like now,” said Puriab.
The minister further said that they had appealed to workers to continue their work and the government open for discussion.
“As a government, we must consider the discomfort faced by the general public too,” said Puriab.
On Friday, MSRTC operates around 150 buses in all states carrying 3,500-4,000 commuters, said sources.
The strike is likely to continue for the weekend, while a number of protesters from 250 bus depots tend to gather in Mumbai to protest ‘strength show’ on Monday, the sources of the trade union.
Leader Union Shashank Rao said that workers will continue to strike until the main demand for MSRTC merges with the state government are accepted.
The Bombay High Court will hear a disgusted petition problem on Monday.