Reportedly it was a dark deepawali for over 48,000 employees of telangana Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) as their indefinite strike entered the 23rd day on Sunday. Meanwhile with no signs of an end to the stalemate and they are yet to get salaries for september, the "sacked" employees and their families spent the festival of lights in protests in front of the TSRTC depots across the state.
Furthermore, after a low key dasara, the drivers, conductors and other employees of the state-owned public utility spent deepawali with no celebrations. Meanwhile the employees, along with women and children, staged a sit-in on the festival day, where some of the women spoke of the difficulties faced by them in meeting household expenditure. Children said instead of bursting crackers like others, they were forced to sit on protest as their parents have not received salaries.
Moreover as chief minister k chandrasekhar rao already declared that the striking workers ceased to be employees of the TSRTC, they face an uncertain future. Perhaps the strike already saw two employees committing suicide due to depression over not getting salaries and the fears of losing the jobs. Perhaps the employees are on strike since october 5 to press for their demands including the demand to merge the TSRTC with the government so that they are treated at par with the government employees.
