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. 


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“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:


 



 



 



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