A deadline has been set for the striking employees of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) to rejoin duty. They have also been warned that if they fail to report for work before the deadline of 22 April, 2022, they will have to face the repercussions.
Maharashtra Transport Minister Anil Parab has given his assurance that if the employees resume their duties by 22 April, 2022, which is the deadline set by the Bombay High Court, no action will be taken against them. Parab also assured the workers that all action taken against the employees during the strike will also be withdrawn, except for those against whom police action was taken, provided they refrain from repeating such activities in the future.
Workers from the Pune MSRTC division have accepted this decision of the HC and about 10,000 employees rejoined work on 7 April, 2022 and the rest intend to do so by 15 April.
The Minister also went on to assure that MSRTC, which has been facing a financial crisis for some time now, will try to pay pension and gratuity on time, as instructed by the Court.
It is to be noted here that this deadline of 22 April is an extended one, given by the HC to the employees who have been agitating since November 2021.
The striking employees have been demanding treatment at par with state government employees and wish for merger of MSRTC with the state government.
