Conductor’s suspension leads to busmen’s strike in Hyderabad

Hyderabad, Sept.12: A tiff between a conductor and a passenger over refund of one rupee to the latter led to the lightning strike by the crew of eight bus depots in the city on Monday. The TSRTC buses of eight depots in the city came to a grinding halt in the city as drivers and conductors boycotted duties when the conductor, who was unable to refund one rupee coin to the woman passenger, was placed under suspension. As the buses were abandoned by the crew, those going to their work places, offices, schools and colleges were left in lurch. Protesting against the unreasonable action against the conductor, the RTC employees belonging to the TMU (Telangana Mazdoor Union) took to lightning strike. Annoyed over the unreasonable transfer of conductor Ratnakumari from the Uppal bus depot, the crew of eight depots enforced the bandh. It is learnt the issue started when conductor Ratna Kumari did not refund change of a rupee to a woman passenger stating she did not have the money. The protesting passenger got into an argument with the conductor and fellow passengers joined her. Later, they lodged a complaint with the RTC authorities, who promptly suspended the conductor. As the news of the suspension spread, RTC employees staged a protest at their respective depots resulting in fewer buses plying on the city roads on Monday morning. As a result, the commuters were left stranded at several bus stops as they did not know about the non-plying of the buses. Auto and cab drivers, however, had a field day.