The bus staff of Odisha State Regional Transport Corporation (OSRTC) staged a cease-work strike in front of Badambadi bus stand in Cuttack demanding pending salary.
The employees engaged by a third-party vendor named KAAPRO demanded their salary of February month which allegedly has not been paid yet.
The strike has hit bus services to many parts of Odisha.
“It is March 21, but we have not received our salary for February yet. We had approached the Cuttack DTM requesting him to address our demands. But he said he cannot do anything for us and told us to do whatever we want,” said a protester.
“When we told our agency KAAPRO, it told us to stop work if we are not paid,” the protester said.
Another employee said, “Not only salary, but the OSRTC never cooperates with us in the time of emergency. We are forced to fill fuel in the bus from our pocket if it runs out of it mid-way. Similarly, in case of an accident or any other mishap, OSRTC authorities never come forward to help us. Instead they tell us to go and file an FIR ourselves.”
“We will sit on dharna until our demands are met,” he added.
It is pertinent to mention here that the human resource consultant KAAPRO has provided around 2000 employees to OSRTC who are engaged in several government buses as drivers and conductors.