HYDERABAD: While the economic loss that the TSRTC strike has caused to the citizens of Telangana is hard to compute, the stress it has put on the movement and social life of the citizens is immense.
A classic example of this, is the bus services towards Hajipur (the village which saw three serial rapes and murders of young girls this year), which have stopped for the past 49 days owing to the long-drawn bus strike.
It was in the wake of these rapes and murders that the plight of rural students, especially that of young girls was brought to the fore. The girls were often forced to take lifts from strangers, as there was only one bus service in the area. It was on May 3, a month after the victims’ bodies were found in an abandoned well, and the accused arrested, that the district administration and Rachakonda police got TSRTC to ply an additional bus service to Hajipur.
“It is a situation of terror here, as people are scared to send their children out alone. When those rape cases were investigated, it was learnt that the two victims, like many others, took lift from passersby to reach their homes or schools, as there were no autos or buses. The accused had given a lift to the victims, and killed them. Now, with the ongoing RTC strike, and no buses plying in this area, parents are in a fix as to how to send their children to school,” said a college student from the area.
It may be recalled that the last victim of the serial killer was walking back to Hajipur after her extra class from school. She had started for home from Bommalaramaram, when she was intercepted by the rapist. The abandoned well, where the her body was found is also on this same four km stretch of road, where other victims bodies were dumped.
“Either parents drop them, or children sit at home now,” added the student. Since, this is a small village, not many autos are available either. “When the two buses started, they made seven trips — three in the morning and four in the evening. Other than that, there are only two autos,” added a teacher. Meanwhile, the depot at Kushaiguda which was sending buses to this nondescript village says they are helpless. “We are in a difficult position with barely 70 buses and only a handful of drivers turning up for work. We have to ply buses to more traffic intensive areas like Suchitra, Afzalgunj and Ghatkesar.
Once the strike is over, the bus services to Hajipur will resume,” said Paul, depot manager, Kushaiguda depot. TSRTC has one of the largest bus networks. Only 844 out of 10,000 villages in the State are not connected with the RTC network. Hence, the bus strike has made it particularly difficult for people living in the rural areas.However, with the deadlock continuing despite workers withdrawing their strike, it is to be seen if the government takes them back and restores normalcy in many more villages like Hajipur.
Another RTC driver’s health critical
ADILABAD: A TSRTC bus driver of Nirmal depot, Sd Mohin’s health condition is critical and he was shifted to Hyderabad for treatment on Friday. Upset over hearing about the government’s indecision on taking RTC employees back on TV, he fell down from his chair fell unconscious. Family members rushed him to a hospital in Nirmal. He was then shifted Hyderabad for better treatment on Friday morning. The temporary drivers and conductors do not work after 6 pm and transportation from Mancherial and Nirmal to Adilabad and other districts has completely stopped
Dissidence in RTC JAC ranks? one man resigns
HYDERABAD: A small fraction of workers appear to be unhappy with the RTC JAC’s decision of expressing willingness to withdraw the strike. An employee, Nagesh Patel, who claimed to be part of the JAC submitted his resignation letter to the JAC.
He said, “The leaders E Ashwathama Reddy and Raji Reddy are not taking workers opinion into consideration. Why did they withdraw the strike now? Ideally, they should have done it on November 5 when CM had offered to take the employees back. Delaying the withdrawal has only claimed more lives.”
However, JAC members denied that he was part of their core team. “We do not know of such a person in the JAC core team. Several people have been trying to get into the limelight, and are speaking to media criticising this unanimous decision. However,
we know that all employees are united in this struggle,” said Thomas Reddy, a TSRTC JAC leader