Mumbai, June 9: The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) Buses are not plying on roads on the second consecutive day, due to an ongoing strike called by the workers of the public transport body. The bus depots are deserted at several parts of the districts. Due to the continuing strike, many passengers, especially villagers are left in the lurch. The reason behind the strike is the long pending demand of MSRTC workers to increase the salary and revise the wages.

The strike comes a day after State Transport Minister Diwakar Raote announced an 18 percent fare hike in state transport buses, citing increasing fuel prices and the financial burden due to wage revision of staffers. Minister said that the wage revision had put an additional burden of Rs 4,849 crore on the transport body. However the staffers unhappy with change are saying the wage hike was much below their expectations, and it had subsequently forced them to go on an indefinite strike from Thursday midnight. Due to the strike, of the 1,110 scheduled trips of MSRTC buses from its 13 depots in Pune till 4 pm on Friday, only 200-odd trips took place according to The Indian Express news reports.

In just nine months the MSRTC called the second strike over salary hike issue. They had gone on strike in October last year during Diwali festival for four days, and commuters suffered a lot due to it. However, the strike was called off after the intervention of Bombay High Court. Minister Raote also assured the court that a committee would be set up who will suggest the plan on wage revision. Furthermore, in this current ongoing strike, all workers union have not participated.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 09, 2018 02:32 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).