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| Fresh trouble on roads | | SRTC employees beat Police drivers; now private operators threaten strike | |
Early Times Reporter
Jammu | Mar 13
While the crisis arising out of the strike of State Road Transport Corporation Employees has already worsened, the government is up to face yet another trouble on the roads.
Taking advantage of the SRTC strike, the private passenger bus operators have threatened to go on strike if the passenger fair is not hiked immediately. Government, besides issuing placating statements, does not seem to be having a solution to meet this unfolding crisis.
Within 36 hours of announcing the end to strike following a meeting of SRTC employees with Transport Minister Hakeem Mohammad Yaseen, the strike suspension was revoked. “The government was found cheating with us and therefore we had to resume the strike”, said a representative of the SRTC employees association. He said that the strike will continue till all demands are met.
Far from ending the strike upon government assurance, the SRTC employees have embarked on a offensive posturing. The employees have attacked and critically wounded the temporary drivers engaged for the SRTC buses. These drivers were drawn from the Jammu and Kashmir Police.
In order to mitigate the inconvenience of the general masses particularity commuters, services of drivers from J&K Police were sought by the SRTC management. As such the SRTC services from Srinagar to some routes particularly to Jammu and Hazratbal shrine in view of the Eid-e-Milad Nabi were started with the help of drivers.
On way to Jammu today, as the Police drivers alongwith passengers in SRTC buses reached Sempora, on the outskirts of Srinagar city under jurisdiction of Police station Pantha Chowk some striking SRTC employees coming from Anantnag attacked the buses. They forced the passengers out of the buses and forcibly de-boarded drivers and conductors of the buses.
Police personnel namely Head Constable Shabir Ahmed, SgCt Ab Khaliq, and constable Nissar Ahmed and Constable Zain -ul-abdin were attacked by the SRTC employees at the behest of some of their leaders.
Police has registered a case FIR No 19/2008 under section 341,147,332,109 in Police station Pantha Chowk against these employees in this regard. Eight of the attackers have been arrested.
Meanwhile, the private transporters have warned of a strike if the passenger fairs were not hiked. This has put the government in a piquant situation. While the government is yet to manage salaries for the SRTC employees to woo them back to work, another strike in the offing can make things bad to worst.
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