Merger of RTC with govt impossible, says Telangana CM

Hardening his stand, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Thursday ruled out merger of ailing TSRTC with the government as demanded by the striking employees and indicated more buses would be hired to meet the requirements of commuters.

Hitting out at the leaders of the employees unions of RTC over the 20-day old strike, he accused them of throwing the corporation into dire straits by putting forth more demands despite the staff being given a 67 per cent hike in salaries.

Rao stuck to his stand that the strike was "illegal" as the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) was already in force.

With the RTC already incurring heavy losses (Rs 1200 crore per annum), the demands of the striking employees cannot be fulfilled and the corporation cannot continue the way it existed prior to the stir, he told reporters here.

He asserted that the demand of employees' unions to merge RTC with government was impossible to be fulfilled.

Noting that the RTC does not have adequate funds, he said it also lost additional income during the Dussehra festival season due to the agitation.

Slamming the union leaders, he claimed it was "a strike, borne out of cheap union politics... They themselves (leaders of unions) are making RTC sink (by their actions). Nobody in the world can save it... It's a gone case."
Following the court directives, the government has decided to examine the demands other than the merger of the Corporation and a committee