Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, June 22: The operation of entire fleet of State Road Transport Corporation (SRTC), including the Inter State buses remained stalled as the employees and workers of the Corporation went on one- day strike across the State today.
Nearly 3500 employees of the State Transport Corporation including drivers, cleaners, mechanics and others in the administration went on ‘Chakka- Jam’ strike in support of their pending demands. They held demonstrations outside the office of General Manager at Bikram Chowk in Jammu and shouted slogans against the Management and the State Transport authorities. The work in all other SRTC depots also remained stalled.
There was no operation of inter-state buses on Jammu- Delhi, Pathankote, Amritsar, Haridwar, Chandigarh, Jallandhar and other locations. The Operation between Jammu- Katra, Jammu Srinagar, Leh and Kargil also remained affected due to strike. The trucks of the Corporation also remained off the road.
All J&K SRTRC Workers Union general secretary Paramjit Singh said that out of the total 1200 vehicles of the Corporation nearly 850 are in operation. The entire fleet remained off the road and employees staged demonstrations in support of their demands at Jammu and Srinagar cities. He said despite assurance the Management has failed to address the pending issues of the workers.
He disclosed that the Union is demanding immediate release of 60 % DA, regularisation of consolidate wages drivers who have completed 7 years, implementation of RTC Act -1950 in toto, release of pending COLA arrears, holding of BOD meeting after every three months, handing back the SRTC land occupied by Government and conduct of DPC meet besides running the affairs on Himachal RTC pattern.
In Srinagar, chairman of the Union, Shakeel Ahmed Kuchey was leading the protest. The employees of the Corporation including those from various depots like Baramulla, Anantnag and Kargil assembled outside MD’s office on M A Road and held protest demonstration. There was no bus service between Jammu and Srinagar and other routes in entire Kashmir up to Kargil and Leh. The employees raised slogans and warned to intensify strike if the Government remained silent spectator. Mr Kuchey expressed strong resentment over the attitude of the Transport authorities and said that workers are feeling duped by the Management every time.
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