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THE SQUEEZE IS ON: With APSRTC workers going on strike, the few buses that ran in the City were jampacked and even women were seen travelling on the footboard on Monday.

Passengers waiting to board a goods lorry on National Highway 7 to travel to Vijayawada. APSRTC, which runs a fleet of about 19,000 buses, is the largest State transport undertaking in the world with a staff strength of 1.19 lakh. - Mohammed Yousuf

Hyderabad , July 4

THE strike by the employees of the AP State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) crippled bus services in the State on Monday.

Of a total of 14,416 daily services, the RTC could operate just 973 on day one of the strike. Only 1,736 employees, constituting 2.6 per cent of the total workforce, reported to duty.

Thousands of passengers were stranded, with the Government not focussing on providing alternative arrangements till the eleventh hour. "We have been pinning hopes on the success of the talks with employees," Mr Konathala Ramakrishna, Minister for Commercial Taxes, told a press conference.

Speaking for the Cabinet sub-committee, set up to tackle the strike, he said the Government was preparing a long-term plan to, first, rescue the corporation and then turn it into a profit-making one.

Terming the strike as unfortunate, he said the Government had offered an interim package worth Rs 650 crore to solve the pressing problems faced by the corporation.

The corporation accumulated a whopping loss of Rs 1,320 crore in the last 10 years. "We told them (the employees) that we would see to it that banks and financial institutions reschedule their loans. This would have facilitated the corporation to rework its strategies," he said.

The employees, however, wanted the Government to give this in writing. "They should believe us. We are ready to take the responsibility to revive the corporation. Unfortunately, the employees chose to go ahead with their strike plans," he said.

The corporation owed about Rs 800 crore to banks and financial institutions. "They want us to wipe off the losses at one go. No Government can do that in a single financial year. The demand for revision of pay scales too is not reasonable. As of now 46 per cent of the total turnover of Rs 3,000 crore goes to salaries. It can't bear further burden," he said.

As part of the contingency plan, the Chief Minister, Dr Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, had directed the officials to permit all public transport vehicles to operate as stage carriages during the period of strike. He also wanted goods vehicles and tractor-trailers to be allowed to carry passengers.

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