Ahead of the Telangana Cabinet meeting scheduled for Thursday, which will decide the fate of the TSRTC employees and the Corporation as a whole, the Joint Action Committee (JAC) is hopeful that Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao will hire the employees back. Speaking to TNM, Thomas Reddy, one of the leaders from the JAC said, "We have confidence that the government would hire us back. We have faith in the government that they wouldn't work against our interest."
KCR had earlier declared the 48,000 staffers were 'self-dismissed' after they went on the strike, demanding the merger of the TSRTC with the state government. This would essentially have meant that the TSRTC workers would get the same rights and benefits are government employees. However, the government did not agree, and after 52 days, the employees ended their strike and decided to rejoin duty. But TSRTC at this point refused to take them back. Critics say that at this point, it has become a matter of his ego for the Chief Minister.
There are reports that the government is planning to give Compulsory Retirement Scheme (CRS) and Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) to at least 20,000 workers and reduce the workforce. This decision was reportedly made as the government has decided to privatise 5,100 bus routes, and they wouldn't need 48,000 TSRTC employees anymore. According to TSRTC employees, there are around 12,469 employees who are in the line to retire in the next five years.
Rubbishing these reports, Thomas Reddy said, "I don't think these speculations have any credibility. If the management is indeed considering such a step, they have to pay to retirement money to the employees, which they don't have. Besides, the private players who are presently operating the TSRTC have said that they can no longer run the buses as they’re facing losses."
The Chief Minister during the TSRTC strike had said that since the TSRTC is in a financial burden, it would cease to exist in its present form and threatened that the entire TSRTC could be privatised under the new Motor Vehicles Act.
Undeterred by the reports, Raji Reddy, another JAC leader said, "We are hopeful of a good decision in our favour." He added that it is 'premature' to comment about the CRS based on newspaper reports.
After 52 days of strike, the TSRTC on Monday called off the strike and announced of rejoining work. However, the government refused to take them back. Around 48,000 employees were on a strike, with a list of 26 demands, which included the merger of the Corporation with the government. However, as the government remained firm, the JAC ended their strike.