Hyderabad: Normal life in Andhra Pradesh and Telengana was thrown out of gear for the second day on Friday after employees of Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) continued with their strike for hike in salaries.
Office-goers and normal passengers had a tough time after APSRTC buses stayed away from roads, though alternative arrangements had been made.
APSRTC employees protested at different places in the two states, demanding a 43% hike in their salaries. They tried to prevent buses from being operated by temporary staff brought in by the APSRTC management to run bus services with police escort.
Incidentally, the APSRTC is yet to be divided between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana following bifurcation on 2014.
The APSRTC is the major public transport company which operates more than 20,000 passenger buses in both the states. APSRTC buses cover about 79.83 lakh kilometres and carry 156.78 lakh people to their destinations everyday.
APSRTC Managing Director N Sambasiva Rao told that about 38% of bus services were operated until evening and the number would go up further by the end of the day. Highlighting the huge demand for bus services due to the ongoing exams, the wedding season as well as forthcoming competitive exams, he appealed to protesting APSRTC employees to stop their strike and resume duties.
Rao said that the Andhra Pradesh state government has appointed a cabinet sub-committee to hold talks with striking APSRTC employees and added that employees should come for talks as well as approach the issue in a cordial manner.
He urged school and engineering college managements to run buses free of cost for as many as 2.50 lakh students scheduled to take the Engineering, Agriculture, Medical Common Entrance Test (EAMCET) on Saturday.
Andhra Pradesh Human Resource Development Minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao also appealed to APSRTC staff to report for duties due to students' exams. Andhra Pradesh Transport Minister Sidda Raghava Rao told reporters that out of 12,000 buses, about 4,000 buses operated in the state today.
The percentage of bus services to be run tomorrow could go up to 55%, he said. He said Andhra Pradesh government would make arrangements to ensure that students appearing for EAMCET tomorrow are not inconvenienced.
He said a 43% salary hike as sought by APSRTC employees would entail a burden of Rs 936 crore on the organisation which currently makes a loss of Rs 1,800 crore, the minister said.
APSRTC employees have demanded a 43% hike in salaries as given to state government employees of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana but the management expressed its inability to do so due to the organisation's poor financial condition.
However, the APSRTC management indicated that it is ready to give upto a 27% hike in wages.
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