'Unpardonable Offence': Telangana Government sacks 50,000 state transport employee

Telangana : The Telangana Government on Sunday sacked around 50,000 employees for not returning on duty by the given deadline. Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) employees had launched an indefinite strike demanding solution to their long-pending problems.

Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao passed the dismissal order of the striking employees after they failed to resume their duties despite a warning from the state government. The striking employees were given time till 6 pm (Saturday) to join work.

The CM said they have committed an 'unpardonable crime' as their action caused a huge loss to the state government.

"It is an unpardonable crime that they went on a strike during the festive season and at a time when the TSRTC was incurring a huge loss of Rs. 1,200 crore and its debt burden had gone up to Rs. 5,000 crore," he said, ruling out any possibility of negotiations with the sacked employees.

They had been striking since Friday night with a list of 26 demands, including merger of RTC with the state government. Many state buses stayed off the roads, affecting thousands during the festive season.

The chief minister has ruled out merger of RTC with the government as was done in Andhra Pradesh. "The government will not succumb to any indiscipline and blackmailing tactics of the employees' unions," he said.

"Now, the RTC is left with 1200 employees. We shall soon start the recruitment process for making fresh appointments. But the new recruits will have to give an undertaking that they would not join any unions," he said.