5 per cent salary hike to transport employees in Tamil Nadu

CHENNAI: The State government has agreed to provide a five per cent salary hike to Transport Department employees effective from January 2022.

The promise has been made to the Transport Department Trade unions by Minister SS Sivashankar during the 14th wage revision talks held in the city on Thursday. "Based on earlier talks, Rs. 1,000 has been given as an interim arrangement. The trade unions demanded 8 per cent hike. But, the government has promised 2 per cent hike from September 2019 and 3 per cent hike from January 2022. In total, 5 per cent hike will be provided, " Sivashankar said after the talks.

He also assured that the shortcomings of earlier talks will be rectified and the final decision will be taken after discussions with trade unions.

During the talk, transport unions demanded the government to give additional incentives to the drivers and conductors, who work in ordinary fare buses in which women passengers are allowed to travel without fare. "The demand has been accepted and will be implemented. Also, allowances will be increased, " he said.

While speaking to reporters, Sivashankar said that the number of buses in which women are allowed to travel without charges has been increased from 40 per cent to 61 per cent.

Auto fare meeting

Meanwhile, the transport department also conducted a meeting with auto-rickshaw unions to revise auto fares. During the meeting, the unions urged the government to launch an online service similar to Ola and Uber and set up a control room.

They also demanded free GPS digital meters. "Government should fix a minimum fare of Rs. 50 for 1.5 kilometers and Rs. 25 for every additional one kilometer. Also, the night fares should be one and half times higher than the usual fares. Waiting charges should be fixed at Re.1 per minute, " the unions urged.

The department will conduct a meeting with associations of auto passengers on Friday and based on the outcome of both the meetings, auto fares will be announced.