How TSRTC strike ended in anticlimax

The 47-day strike by 48,000-odd employees of Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) ended on a sad note as the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of the corporation's trade unions called off the agitation without extracting any assurance from the State government on any of demands put forth by it.

Interestingly, the main demand of the JAC is the merger of the corporation with the government. Embarking on such a long and painful agitation for the merger demand is nothing short of foolishness when TSRTC, a public sector undertaking (PSU), is in fact owned by the Telangana government.

Frankly speaking, the strike, which caused a lot of inconvenience to common people who use RTC buses regularly, ended in anticlimax.

While the employees took to the street in support of their merger demand, the KCR government moved in opposite direction and decided to privatise half of the corporation! The Telangana High Court, which dragged on the strike issue for more than a month before throwing up its hands, also cleared hurdles for the privatisation (5100 routes).

In the end, it is the poor and innocent employees who are suffering a lot as the government is not showing interest in taking them back even though the strike has been called off.

The trade union leaders should squarely take the blame for the pathetic situation that thousands of employees are in now.

My association with APSRTC as a journalist dates back to late 1990s when the corporation in united Andhra Pradesh had matured trade union leadership.

In those days, whenever trade union leaders sensed that the tide was turning against them during strikes, they used to bargain for an honourable exit and call off the strike. For them, the future of the corporation and employees was more important than anything else.

Sadly, that doesn't seem to be the case with the current lot of trade union leaders in TSRTC, who appear to have political aspirations. Indian Constitution allows every Indian citizen to contest elections, aspire for political positions and become politicians.

That means trade union leaders can also have political aspirations. There is nothing wrong in it. However, they should never try to climb the political ladder by mortgaging the interests of workers and employees they represent.

That's nothing short of killing the golden goose. TSRTC's trade union leaders have just done that.

Intriguingly, latest reports indicate that the Central government may intervene in the issue and summon the Telangana government officials to discuss the strike.

But the fact of the matter is the Centre has a limited role in TSRTC affairs. A 31-per cent shareholder (Centre) can't dictate terms to the Telangana government which has majority stake in it.

If push comes to shove, the KCR government will not hesitate to ask the Centre to buy its stake and operate the corporation. Alternatively, it may also ask the Centre to share the spoils in proportion to latter's stake and infuse funds into the corporation.

That will be a bitter pill to swallow for the Modi government which has recently put profit-making BPCL on sale to mop funds for its initiatives.

If the TSRTC employees are under any false impression of getting help from the Centre, they should think twice. It is akin to pinning hopes on the Telangana High Court which finally threw up its hands.

But TSRTC employees can take comfort from Congress, the perennial Abhimanyu. With every political strategy it deploys, it gets deeper into political wilderness.

Otherwise, how can we explain its proposed alliance with a power-hungry Shiva Sena, a hardcore Hindutva party that ticks every box that Congress sought to fight and hate till date.

Its so-called secular mask has gone for a toss and down the Ganges at a time when the country's Muslim community slipped into a mysterious silence post the Ayodhya verdict.

They seem to be more worried now, not about Babri Masjid, but about their future in the country as there seem to be no strong voices that can reassure them.

So, the India's Grand Old Party will eventually go the Abhimanyu way unless BJP gives it a new lease of life through its follies and faults. Its strategy in Maharashtra also ended in anticlimax.

And for TSRTC employees, the Abhimanyus of modern politics, it's time to brace up for hard times. Hope the KCR government takes them back and makes them part of TSRTC's future success story.