Days after a woman conductor working for the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) died by suicide, trade unions called for a black badge protest on Thursday.
TSRTC Joint Action Committee chairman K Raji Reddy issued the call on Wednesday and vowed to protest against what he said alleged was “harassment of TSRTC workers by supervisors and officers.” He also demanded that “illegal” transfers and suspensions should come to an immediate halt.
Mr Reddy said that the driver of the bus, Md Shareef, in which the victim, G Srividya, was discharging her duties, was facing problems in stopping at different stages. He claimed that both Mr Shareef and the victim were transferred from Bandlaguda depot to Hayatnagar 2 Depot without any transfer orders. The JAC also maintained that women workers, on certain occasions, have been burdened with extra work. One such occasion was Rakhi festival. The JAC demanded that the superior officers bring about a “change in attitude” while dealing with workers.
TSRTC clarifies
Meanwhile, according to the TSRTC, the victim and Mr Shareef were not suspended, but were asked to work as ‘depot spare’. This, officials said, means that they would have to report to the depot, but work would be assigned to them depending on availability.
Officials said that the crew had ended the trip three stages before the official termination point of the bus service. “We consider termination of trip at a stage other than the designated stage a serious offence. Neither the driver, not the lady conductor were suspended, but designated as depot spare,” an official said.
The TSRTC’s Greater Hyderabad Zone has over 17,500 employees, out of which approximately 2,000 are women workers. According to officials, workers can have their grievances addressed with the ‘complaint boxes’ kept at depots. They also said that officers and reporting managers are available to deal with problems.
(Roshni - suicide prevention helpline: +914066202000)
