Employees of the Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation (GSRTC) have announced a statewide week-long agitation from June 18 to June 25, protesting against the alleged privatisation of transport services and the non-fulfilment of several long-pending employee demands.
The protest will be organised under the banner of the Gujarat ST Majdoor Mahasangh and will include demonstrations at the corporation’s headquarters, divisional offices and bus depots across the state.
Employees have strongly opposed the corporation’s move to hire buses from private operators and its reported plan to recruit nearly 4,000 drivers and conductors through outsourcing. They claim these measures amount to privatisation and could adversely affect the interests of existing workers.
The union is also demanding implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission, payment of dearness allowance arrears pending for the last one-and-a-half years, and an end to the contractual employment system.
As part of the agitation programme, employees will wear black armbands from June 18 to 20 to register their protest. On June 22 and 23, workers will gather outside bus depots, workshops and divisional offices, where they will raise slogans, ring bells and recite devotional hymns as a symbolic form of protest.
On June 24, employees plan to take their campaign online by tagging the Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister, Transport Minister and senior GSRTC officials on social media platforms to highlight their demands.
The protest will conclude on June 25 with sit-in demonstrations outside all divisional offices of the corporation from 11 am onwards, as employees intensify pressure on the state government and GSRTC management to address their concerns.