More temporary crew to be hired today: Transport Minister MR Vijayabaskar

The Minister cited the Madras High Court’s interim order declaring that the strike is illegal and said the workers should respect the court direction and return to work.

He also expressed optimism that the strike would end by Sunday.

He added that the newly recruited drivers and conductors would be appointed from Sunday and those who take up work at present would be given priority when the transport corporations appoint temporary staff. The government’s sole objective is to see that the people were not affected.

He also referred to the government’s willingness to provide 2.44 factor increase and said this would cost an additional Rs 1,000 crore to the exchequer. “At present, when the transport corporations are running at a loss of over Rs 7,000 crore, the government has come forward to increase the wages,” he pointed out.

The Minister, who was speaking to reporters at Karur, after inspecting the steps taken to continue regular bus services, claimed that 80 per cent of the government transport services were being operated.

Answering a query if the striking trade unions would be invited for talks, the Minister said Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami would take a decision on the matter.

He also said measures had been taken to maintain sufficient bus services throughout the state.