JACTO expresses solidarity with striking RTC workers

Hyderabad: The Joint Action Committee of Teachers Organisations (JACTO) on Monday asked Transport Minister Puvvada Ajay Kumar not to forget the key role played by teachers and RTC workers in 42 days of Sakala Janula Samme (SJS) to achieve separate Telangana State.

In a statement here on Monday the JACTO, chairman G Sadanandam Gowd and secretary-general E Raghunandan took exception to the transport minister calling the RTC strike illegal.

They asked when the 42-day SJS was not illegal, "How could he say the RTC employees strike illegal?"

The teachers' association's leaders said that a Cabinet Sub Committee comprising Ministers Eatala Rajender, KT Rama Rao and G Jagadish Reddy held talks with the employees, teachers and RTC associations.

It was based on the report submitted by the committee that Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao held five-and-a-half hour-long marathon meeting with the representatives of the unions on May 16, 2018.

However, the State government has failed to fulfil the assurances given after the discussions for the last 18 months.

In turn, this has forced the RTC workers to give notice and to go on strike asking the government to deliver on the demands already agreed.

However, the government instead of holding talks democratically and resolve the issues is trying to threaten the RTC workers to dismiss them from the services.

Terming the government's action, a vendetta, the JACTO leaders demanded the government not to go to prestige on the issue and invite the RTC workers for talks to resolve the pending demands.

The JACTO leaders also expressed their solidarity with the RTC unions on strike for the last three days.JACTO, Joint Action Committee of Teachers Organisations, Ajay Kumar, SJS, Sakala Janula Samme, Hyderabad