NASHIK: MSRTC employees’ agitation continues for the last three months without any conclusion. Despite various efforts of State Transport Minister Anil Parab and senior officials of ST corporation, the corporation’s legal department involved corporation’s employees in the court battle, leading to an indefinite agitation, Shrirang Barge, General Secretary, Maharashtra S.T. Workers Congress, stated.
ST hasn’t been able to get any conclusive order for the last three months, with expert lawyers standing in court. Due to this time-consuming process, ST workers are suffering from a financial crisis. Many officials attempted to sort the matter without the court’s involvement and serve justice to ST employees, but to no avail.
Now, the legal department needs to introspect, conclude the topic, and make things better for ST employees, said Barge. He added that even after 85 days, the employees still suffer without any conclusion for their demands. In the beginning, when the agitation’s intensity was low, it was possible to find a way through the discussion. State Transport Minister Anil Parab even initiated talks with the employees.
However, due to the legal department’s advice, a writ petition was filed in the High Court on October 29. On Diwali eve, the High Court directed the ST workers to refrain from the strike and go to work and directed the government to appoint a highlevel committee to look into workers’ demands. This agitation then turned into a strike, and 250 depots were completely closed. This strike hasn’t benefited anyone.
Three months have passed, and more than 70,000 ST employees have not been paid. Some politicians and others are trying to provoke the movement by manipulating employees for their selfish reasons. Had ST not taken up the issue to court, political leaders wouldn’t have had the opportunity to create confusion among hardworking and naive ST employees.