Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Wednesday directed the state government and the RTC management to respond to a petition filed by the Telangana Jathiya Mazdoor Union seeking directions to the corporation to pay September salaries to around 49,190 workers who were on strike.
Justice Abhinand Kumar Shavili, after hearing the plea of the union, directed the counsels for the RTC and state government to get instructions on this issue by Monday.
Mr Chikkudu Prabhakar, counsel for the union, submitted that the RTC has not paid the salaries for September to 49,190 workers, although they worked for the entire month. He also submitted that the Dassera festival advance was also not paid to the employees.
Further, he submitted that the Supreme Court gave several judgments stating that the court can direct the state or any management of the corporations to deposit the salaries of the employees, if they were not paid on time. He sought such directions from the court.
The counsel for the RTC informed the court that the staff which looks after the salary matters were also on strike, hence they could not pay the salaries.
Responding to the RTC counsel’s submissions, Mr Prabhakar said that if the corporation was ready to pay the salaries, the union will send 100 employees for that work.
Refusing to issue immediate directions to the RTC to pay salaries, the court said that it has to hear the contentions of the other side too. The case has been adjourned to Monday.
Eight arrested for bid to burn effigy
Three RTC employees and five leaders of Telangana Jana Samiti, who attempted to burn an effigy Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao at Dilsukhnagar bus depot, were taken into preventive custody by Malakpet police on Wednesday.
Malakpet inspector K.V. Subba Rao said that around 1.30 pm on Wednesday, a group of persons arrived at Dilsukhnagar bus depot carrying an effigy of the CM and tried to burn it in support of the ongoing strike by the RTC employees.
The detained persons have been identified as TJS leaders P, Raman Singh, G. Susheel Kumar, P. Vinay Kumar, E. Sai Kiran and K. Dasu besides RTC driver P. Vasudev, conductor L. Ravinder Reddy and SK Jani Pasha, a driver of Dilsukhnagar depot. They were released later in the day, said the inspector.
