If there is anybody that has benefitted from the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, it is the RTC.
Had it not been for the creation of Telangana, RTC employees of Andhra Pradesh would have never been absorbed into the government, at least not in United Andhra Pradesh.
But in a smaller State, it was made possible as YS Jagan kept his electoral promise.
In Telangana, everyone is aware that the government has refused to bow to the demands of the striking RTC employees and dismissed them from service (or rather, they were self-dismissed according to KCR).
Naturally, the Opposition Parties there are supporting the RTC because they will support anyone fighting the government. Various other JACs have also expressed support for the workers there.
But the strange thing is that APSRTC- JAC has decided to go in for a dharna on the 13th of this month in support of their counterparts in Telangana.
The JAC has criticized the TRS government for the way it is treating the RTC bandh there and said the APSRTC employees should be prepared to bring pressure on the TRS government to accede to the demands of the Unions there.
Is the APSRTC-JAC out of its mind? In what way is this their problem?
The TRS government has been elected by the Telangana people and society and they will deal with their own problems? Why should you express solidarity with them?
Besides, did the TSRTC or any other Telangana organization, leader, or the common public have any good words for the Andhra people during the agitation?
Did any of them express any sympathy or goodwill towards the Andhras? Truth of the matter is that RTC in both States is a blood-sucker.
It has never shown a single rupee in profit and yet the employees have always thrived on the tax payers’ money.
Now, in Andhra Pradesh, they have become government employees which means ‘zero work-full pay’.
Instead of celebrating this jackpot, why are the employees now poking their noses into the affairs of Telangana?
Why do they need to abstain from work or do a dharna for what’s happening in a neighboring State?
It’s like a housewife refusing to cook dinner for her husband because the neighbor is ill-treating his wife.
Whether the TSRTC works out a compromise with KCR or jumps into the Ganga is entirely their problem. Telangana and its problems are no longer APSRTC’s problems.
The least these APSRTC workers can do for the AP government and the people of Andhra Pradesh for being absorbed into the government is to work hard and show some profit to the Company and not find stupid excuses to bunk work.
Or else, they may resign from APSRTC and join the Telangana workers as a sign of solidarity.
That will be a real test of their sincerity.
By Kiran Sharma
(All views expressed in this piece are personal)