The MSRTC workers’ strike continues, but buses are being operated for schoolchildren in Vasai and Satara. Grateful villagers from Satara felicitated the bus drivers and conductors for resuming services, as for students, the MSRTC is the only reliable public transport available. Protesting workers at Azad Maidan in Mumbai bore the brunt of unseasonal rains in the city for the past two days sitting in the open without a shelter. But most of them said they were determined to keep the strike going.

Officials said that about 13 buses were being operated for schoolchildren in Vasai as MSRTC buses have been their lifeline in the rural areas. MSRTC is more popular among students in the rural and semi-urban belt as those up to Std XII get 100 per cent concession in fare, while others get 66.66 per cent concession with over 12 lakh students depending on 
these buses.