Congress accuses KCR of blackmailing TSRTC staff

​Hyderabad: The Congress on Friday alleged that the Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has been blackmailing the RTC staff who have been fighting with the government on their issues. 

Addressing the media, along with former MP V Hanumanth Rao, MLA G Chinna Reddy alleged that the government has been threatening the RTC staff with closure and privatisation of RTC.  Chinna Reddy said that the comments of the Chief Minister on RTC staff were not in sync with the democracy. The government should invite the RTC unions for talks.

He said that the RTC has been incurring losses due to the non-payment of dues by the government and rising prices of diesel. The RTC has been paying Rs 25 as VAT to the government on each litre of diesel, he added 

Making it clear that it was the policy of the government that has pushed the RTC into losses, Chinna Reddy recalled the comments of K Chandrashekar Rao that the Corporation earned Rs 14 crore of profits when KCR was the Transport minister in the past. 

He said that the though RTC staff played a key role in the Telangana movement, the Chief Minister was not coming forward to address their issues. The pay revision of them was due for the past 16 years. 

Chinna Reddy said that the Congress would support the agitation of the RTC unions. The Corporation with 54,000 employees was a good source of employment. The Chief Minister has promised them to give salaries on par with government employees.  Hanumanth Rao said that the Congress would support the RTC staff in their agitation against the government. 

He said that RTC stood in first place in serving the people. While the Chief Minister has been giving crores of rupees to various sections, why he was not going back on addressing the demands of the RTC staff, the former MP wanted to know. 

In another press conference, MLA T Jeevan Reddy said that it was unfortunate that K Chandrashekar Rao has been threatening the RTC employees with terminations. He said that the Chief Minister was behaving like a dictator and it is not correct to threaten RTC staff who has played a major role in Telangana movement. 

The RTC has been incurring losses due to the erroneous policies of the Chief Minister. The government should not make drivers and conductors responsible for the losses of the Corporation. He demanded the government to release all the dues of the RTC and to make Transport Minister responsible for the losses of the RTC.