Retired RTC Employees Detained During Assembly Protest
Around 1,500 retired TGSRTC employees marched towards the Telangana Assembly over ₹861 crore in pending retirement benefits before police detained them.
Several retired employees of Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TGSRTC) were detained by police on Tuesday as they attempted to march to the state Legislative Assembly to protest non-payment of retirement benefits. Senior citizens were taken into custody at multiple police stations across the city, while others were placed under house arrest in districts across the state.
Around 1,500 of the 18,000 employees who retired since March 1, 2017, began a peaceful protest march from Nampally Railway Station, All India Radio and Ravindra Bharathi towards the Assembly. Carrying placards and raising slogans against the government, they were stopped and detained around 12.30 pm before reaching the Assembly premises.
At the Madanapet police station, P. Venkata Reddy, a retired depot manager, said: “The government has not addressed our issue for years. We thought this protest would bring our plight to the Chief Minister’s attention. Of the 18,000 retired, 400 have already died without receiving their benefits.”
He added: “We belong to an organisation without a pension. The retirement benefits are our only means of survival. When the government withholds them, how can we live?”
Appala Giri Mahesh, a retired division manager, said: “We came for a peaceful protest but were detained. At the station we were allowed to order food, and later in the evening we were released. We will soon plan our next course of action.”
The retirees are demanding immediate disbursement of pending dues, which they say amount to over ₹861 crore. Their claims include ₹311 crore towards gratuity and leave encashment, and ₹550 crore arrears from the 2017 revised pay scales. In addition, they point to ₹910 crore owed to the RTC Credit Cooperative Society, which has stopped paying monthly interest to retirees since August 2024, and about ₹1,700 crore in dues to the Employees Provident Fund Office.
Retired employees argue that delays in settlement have caused severe hardship, with many dependent solely on these payments for their livelihood. They say the protest was aimed at pressing the government to act without further delay.
