SOURCE :- SIASAT NEWS
Hyderabad: Hundreds of elderly retired employees of the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TGSRTC) staged a flash protest outside Bus Bhavan at RTC X Roads in Hyderabad on Thursday, June 18, demanding payment of long-pending salary arrears from 2017 and 2021, as well as leave encashment dues that have remained unpaid years after their retirement.
The protesters, most of them aged between 65 and 75 years, had served the TGSRTC for periods ranging from 20 to 30 years and more. Their individual arrears amount to between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 10 lakh depending on their years of service. They attempted to enter the Bus Bhavan but were stopped at the gates by the police.
‘They feel they don’t need us anymore’
Among those present was Sunitha, who joined the TGSRTC in 1996-97 and had come to protest despite the summer heat. “Without worrying about rains or simmering heat, we ensured that the targets given to us were delivered. Now that we have retired, they feel that they don’t need us anymore,” she told Siasat.com.
A single parent who raised her children on her TGSRTC salary, Sunitha said the pension most retired workers received was inadequate to survive on. “There are those who take care of their parents. There are also those who neglect their parents. We don’t get any pension. We only get the provident fund pension which we had contributed during our service. We get anywhere between Rs 2,300 to Rs 4,000 depending on seniority and provident fund (PF) contribution,” she said.
She added that if the arrears were cleared, they could at least deposit the amount in a bank and live off the interest.
A pointed question for the CM
One retired worker drew a sharp contrast with a recent state government initiative. Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy had brought in legislation allowing salary deductions from the earnings of children who neglect their elderly parents.
“In our case, the government has failed to take care of us. From whose salaries should the amount be deducted to clear our arrears,” he asked, pointedly suggesting the salaries of TGSRTC management and politicians as a fitting answer.
34 years of service, Rs 2,300 a month
Amid the sloganeering, one figure stood apart. Md H Rahman, 66, sat quietly on the footpath in front of Bus Bhavan. A resident of the Godavarikhani depot area, he had driven TGSRTC buses for 34 years, retiring as a controller. In 2000-01, he was recognised as the best KMPL driver and had an accident-free record to his name.
Rahman has one daughter, whose marriage he has seen through. He now lives with his wife and suffers from persistent back pain. He said he had not even known about his arrears entitlement until fellow retirees informed him.
“I worked like a soldier stationed on the border. I never expected anything and was only focused on my work and the organisation,” he told Siasat.com.
300 dead, still waiting
According to the retired workers present at the protest, at least 300 former TGSRTC employees have died without receiving their arrears.
Notably, the payment of these dues to retired workers did not feature among the 32 demands placed before the state government by TGSRTC worker unions during their recent negotiations, leaving the retirees without any formal representation at the bargaining table.
SOURCE : SIASAT
