A long wait for jobs for the next of kin of employees of the AP State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) who died while in service finally comes to an end with the State government giving its nod for their appointment on compassionate grounds.
Job applications of 896 family members of APSRTC employees who died before January 1, 2020, prior to the date of absorption of the Corporation employees into the Public Transport Department (PTD), have been pending before the APSRTC authorities for several years.
APSRTC Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Ch. Dwaraka Tirumala Rao said that the government had approved the appointment of eligible candidates whose applications had been pending.
He said that since there were not many vacant posts in the APSRTC, the eligible applicants would be absorbed in village and ward secretariats while those not sufficiently qualified would become part of the Collectors’ pool in the districts.
In a G.O. issued on Wednesday (February 23), the government asked District Collectors to examine and consider the pending applications for compassionate appointments.
Leaders of the Andhra Pradesh PTD (RTC) Employees’ United Forum have welcomed the government decision. In a statement, forum conveners Y.V. Srinivasa Rao and P. Damodara Rao, and State president of NMU P.V. Ramana Reddy, said the applicants had been waiting for a long time for jobs in the Corporation.
Dharna by next of kin of unfit staff
Meanwhile, the next of kin of APSRTC employees who lost their jobs after being declared medically unfit staged a dharna in Vijayawada on Wednesday demanding appointment on compassionate grounds.
They said the Corporation had released a G.O. announcing that one of the family members of the ‘medically unfit’ employees would be given a job on compassionate grounds.
Citing their mounting financial woes, they said since the heads of their families were ailing, they had medical expenses to meet besides the burden of taking care of their families. Stating that the meagre pension was far from adequate for the family, they appealed to the RTC authorities to consider their appointments too in the Corporation, along with the kin of the employees who had died during their service.
Informing that there were 170 such employees in the State, they urged the Corporation management to address their woes at the earliest.
