Hyderabad: Amid the continuing stand-off between the Telangana government and striking TSRTC employees, senior ruling TRS leader K Keshava Rao on Tuesday indicated he was willing to hold talks with them to bring to an end the 11-day old stir.
The statement of Rao, leader of the TRS Parliamentary party, comes a day after he appealed to the workers to call off the strike and resolve their issues amicably through negotiations, and the unions asking him to mediate.
Replying to a query from reporters on Tuesday, Keshava Rao said he was willing to take up the role of a mediator if he was asked by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.
The strike by nearly 48,000 employees of different unions of Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) demanding fulfillment of their demands began on October 5 across the state resulting in its buses staying off the roads causing inconvenience to commuters.
Their demands include merger of the RTC with the government, pay revision, recruitment to various posts, among others. Meanwhile, a senior official of the RTC told PTI that alternative arrangements have been made to ply buses.
Around 10,500 vehicles including 3,000 buses from RTC's fleet and about 2,000 private buses besides vehicles from educational institutions were being operated daily across the state to ensure that commuters were not put to hardship.
The Hyderabad Metro has increased the frequency of trains to cater to the demand of passengers. There has been a surge in number of travellers in the wake of the RTC stir, a Metro official said.
However, Ananth Reddy, an accountant, who commutes to his work place daily from Ameerpet to Hi-Tec City by bus, said the frequency fell drastically after 7 pm resulting in overcrowding.
Since the strike began, two employees have ended their lives and three attempted suicide. The Chief Minister had ruled out talks with the employees or taking them back, terming the agitation as "illegal.
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