Mumbai: Ahead of this year's Ganesh Chaturthi festival, the bus services of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) were badly affected as a large section of employees went on a strike demanding a hike in salaries, among other grievances.
During the Ganeshotsav, which is slated to take place between September 7 and 17 this year, lakhs of people across Maharashtra go to their hometowns to celebrate the biggest festival in the state.
The ST buses carry the bulk of the passengers during the Ganesh festival.
As people have already started leaving for their hometowns, the first day of the strike had an adverse impact.
The strike has been called by the Maharashtra State Transport Kamgar Samyukta Kruti Samiti (joint action committee).
"The representatives of the joint action committee - including members from 11 trade unions - had a meeting with state Industry Minister Uday Samant, which remained inconclusive.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde will meet the union leaders on Wednesday in Mumbai.
Currently, buses are not departing from 35 out of 250 depots across the state.
“We will continue the strike till our demands are met,” said Sandeep Shinde, Convenor of Maharashtra ST Kamgar Sanyukta Kruti Samiti.
Published 03 September 2024, 07:32 IST