Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Saturday announced that 50% of the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) buses will be privatised and called on the employees on strike to return to duty within November 5.

Earlier in the day, Chandrasekhar Rao held a cabinet meeting where he gave the nod for 5,100 private buses to be handed over to private operators. TSRTC currently has 10,400 buses under its ambit out of which 2,000 buses are already privatised.

He also said that the Centre would be informed about any decisions made by them on allotting routes to private operators. Rao stated that the policy decision made by him cannot be reversed and the Motor Vehicles act implemented by the central government allows him to follow the route of privatisation.

The Telangana CM also stated that if the striking employees did not return to work within the set deadline, other routes will also be given to private operators.

He also added that his government would not allow the merger of TSRTC with the government which was one of the key demands of the striking employees and the employees will not be paid their salaries for the month of September as the RTC does not have sufficient funds.

The transport unions have announced that they will carry forward their protests which includes a rural village protest along with other unions and political parties and hold a big meeting at Chalo Tank Bund next week. The employees claim that they are still owed around Rs. 4,000 crore.

Many opposition parties including the BJP organised in support of workers of Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC), and Rao blamed them for instigating the employees.

Since October 5, the RTC employees have been protesting in Telangana demanding the merger of TSRTC with the government. Many employees of the corporation attempted suicide to force the government to meet their demands.