No festival of lights for TSRTC employees

Hyderabad: There is no Diwali cheer for the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) employees who have been on strike since October 5, demanding its merger with the state government. Nearly 48,000 employees are holding protests every day.

This year, they won't be able to celebrate Diwali as the rest of the society. The reason: they have not got salaries for the month of September. "There should be an immediate settlement by the state government as due to this protest the sufferers are general public and TSRTC employees.

This year there are not celebrating Diwali due to money crunch. It is also becoming difficult to manage the daily expenses," said M Dayanand, general secretary of Telangana Auto and Motor Welfare Union.

"We did not celebrate Dussehra and also would not celebrate Diwali. When we don't have money, how we will celebrate. Also, our family members have staged a protest in requesting the government to be resolved the matter soon," said K Hanumanthu Mudiraj, the Telangana Jathiya Mazdoor Union (TJMU) general secretary.

"Every year my son eagerly waits for Diwali, as he would get new clothes and crackers, but this year no celebration would be seen at our house," said S Satyanarayana, an RTC diver, Mehdipatnam depot.

"As I did not get the salary, we are not celebrating any festivals and also till our demand would be fulfilled be would continue the protest," says Rukmani, conductor of Kushaiguda Depot. The same situation even we are facing, says Jagadish controller of Kushaiguda Depot.