Ahead of Diwali 2017, Maharashtra bus services hit by MSRTC strike

Ahead of Diwali 2017, MSRTC employees went strike affected lakhs of passengers in the state

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Mumbai: Ahead of Diwali 2017, employees of Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation or MSRTC went on a strike from Monday midnight, demanding a 25 per cent pay hike and implementation of 7th Pay Commission. The strike has affected several inter-state travellers, planning to visit home on the eve of Diwali or Deepavali. Commuters took to social media sharing their woes. Meanwhile, the state government issued a notification allowing private vehicles, including school buses, to ferry passengers. 

“We have all sympathy with ST Employees but their demands for salary as per 7th Pay commission is not possible,” said state transport minister Diwakar Raote on Tuesday Morning.  Calling the strike illegal, he added, “All courts including labour court & industrial court has held this strike as illegal.” He offered to resolve the matter through dialogue talks.

MSRTC union members met chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and Raote on Monday, without any resolution. The government agreed to an interim hike of 10 per cent. However, union members members demanded a 25 per cent hike.

The state has agreed to set up a committee to look in to the demands of the MSRTC.

Lakhs of passengers are expected to be affected by the strike. Nearly 10,000 travellers ply from Mumbai and Pune daily. The state transport ferries over 65 lakh passengers everyday. 

On Monday morning, several travellers took to Twitter to share their woes:

#msrtc please stop the strike. Dont play with common man.its festival time so undsrstnd the situation.
Resolve the issue asap@Dev_Fadnavis — Amol Deshmukh (@amoldeshmukh099) October 17, 2017

I am waiting for this day from last 2 months to go to home for our biggest festival Diwali and everyone at my home is waiting for me as well — Rahul Goyal (@goyalrahul176) October 17, 2017

@DRaote booked shivshahi 2 tickets online. Please confirm if bus running today. 2 much inconvenience. No wonder why #msrtc is in loss. — Makrand Sanap (@makrand_sanap) October 17, 2017

In the absence of states buses, few took the trains to travel.