Governor allows passage of TSRTC Bill into TS Assembly, suggests recommendations

Hyderabad: Following the protests by the TSRTC employees at the Raj Bhavan, governor Tamilisai Soundararajan has granted her approval for the introduction of the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (Absorption of Employees into Government Service) Bill 2023 in the Telangana State Legislative Assembly with certain recommendations to the state government.

The governor’s recommendations include:

- The ownership of the lands, assets, and properties of the TSRTC should vest with the corporation itself for its sole and exclusive use, even after the absorption of RTC employees as government employees.

- The assets should be finally divided between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh as per the AP Reorganisation Act.

- The government should clarify and assume the liability of clearing the arrears from the erstwhile APSRTC.

- The earnings of the RTC employees, once absorbed as government employees, should be on the same scale as other state government employees, which includes pay scales, service rules, and regulations vis-à-vis salary, transfers, promotions, retirement pensions, or provident funds, and other gratuities.

- The TSRTC employees already absorbed should have the feasibility and facility to request ‘compassionate appointment’ for family members on medical grounds if the employee becomes unfit for service owing to the extreme stress and physical strain of work with the RTC.

- Disciplinary proceedings within the RTC are extremely stringent. Therefore, it is recommended that the disciplinary proceedings be more humane and in tandem with the same service rules and regulations as the remaining government employees and the relevant service rules.

- If RTC-absorbed-employees are sent on deputation to other departments, it is recommended that their grade, pay, salary, promotions, etc., be protected so that there is no disturbance vis-à-vis their elevations and promotions.

- Contract employees or outsourced employees be treated and given similar benefits and salaries as per the state service rules as regular employees, and their service be recognised and protected for further service in other capacities or departments, including provident fund.

- Regular employees and contract employees, as long as they are in service, receive the same health benefits of RTC hospitals, government-sponsored treatment up to a certain level, and insurance benefits in tandem, and the families of regular employees also be included in the health benefits scheme.

- The government should take over the maintenance of buses, etc., through outsourcing to an independent entity or in any other manner, undertaking to bear the financial burden of the maintenance and upkeep of the buses for the safety of the people.