TIRUCHY: DMK government has hiked wages for transport employees twice so far, and a fund of Rs 1,100 crore has been sanctioned for the monetary benefits for the retired employees, said State Transport Minister SS Sivasankar, while appealing to the transport employees to withdraw their indefinite strike.
“Steps have also been initiated for the release of funds for the employees retiring in the current years,” he further pointed out.
Speaking to reporters after flagging off new buses in Ariyalur, Minister Sivasankar said the CITU members have long been protesting for their demands, and the department has already interacted with them.
“For the first time in the history of Tamil Nadu, the government had held salary hike talks twice within three years,” he said.
Stating that the previous AIADMK government could not find a solution even after 30 rounds of talks for a single hike, he said that the DMK had given 5 per cent increment and another 6 per cent increment so far.
“This apart, a fund of Rs 1,100 crore has been sanctioned for the monetary benefits of retired transport employees, and steps are being initiated to release the benefits for those employees retiring in the current year,” he said.
Pointing out that the AIADMK government failed to fill the vacancies of the drivers and conductors in the corporation, the minister said the DMK government has commenced the process of filling the existing vacancies.
Meanwhile, Sivasankar said that the government had allocated a fund for purchasing 11,000 new buses, among which already 4,000 have been under public use, and the remaining number of buses would soon be added to the public transport.
The minister appealed to the protesting employees to withdraw the protest for the benefit of the people, as festivals are fast approaching, and the workers should ensure convenience to the public.
Earlier, he flagged off three new bus routes from Ariyalur bus stand to Thanjavur-Salem from Kunnam branch, Jayankondam– Chennai from Jayankondam branch and Ariyalur-Madhavaram from Villupuram division.