Maharashtra: 79 MSRTC buses run, 4K resume duty

Amid police presence, passengers wait for MSRTC buses at Kalyan West on Sunday. Pic/Satej Shinde

AMID the ongoing agitation by MSRTC employees, the transporter operated 79 buses to ferry 1,746 passengers, with two buses on the Nashik-Pune route running at full capacity of 84 passengers. Two men tried to end their lives outside Mantralaya.

Officials from the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) said 3,987 employees from the total headcount of 92,266 resumed work on Sunday. Most of the buses that have started are on inter-city routes like Pune-Mumbai, Sangli-Pune, Nashik-Dhule and Miraj-Pandharpur. For other routes, citizens are still dependent on private bus services that have been permitted by the government to pick up passengers from MSRTC bus depots.

"But it is really the rural passenger that is suffering because, private bus operators are picking up passengers from the main central bus stations from urban centres and towns, but do not venture into rural belts and interiors even if paid extra. Here, passengers still have to depend on shared autos, taxis and maxi cabs," a passenger said.

On Sunday morning, a group of activists shouted slogans outside Mantralaya, accusing the government of not fulfilling the demand of the striking MSRTC employees. Two men from the group then allegedly tried to immolate by pouring kerosene on themselves, while the women members sat in protest. Policemen present at the spot moved swiftly and rounded up the protesters.

On November 14, a depressed MSRTC bus driver at Jawhar depot in Palghar had attempted to commit suicide by consuming poison. He was saved by his family members. The employees of the transporters are on an indefinite strike since October 28 over their demand for merger of the corporation with the state government, but they intensified the agitation after the Diwali festival ended. A merger will accord the MSRTC staff the same status as state government employees.