Marthi Subrahmanyam
Hyderabad
Strange are the ways of Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao. If he is angry, the whole world should feel the emotion. If he feels otherwise, the whole world should follow in his footsteps.
If he says “no” to an issue and later takes a U-turn, the people should sail with him. This is the philosophy of KCR. If anyone puts his or her foot down, it would mean he or she is regarded as brainless.
The TSRTC merger with the government of Telangana stands as a perfect example of his mood swings.
When political leaders and RTC union leaders, long back, had demanded that the Chief Minister merge it with the State government, quoting the example of what Andhra Pradesh YS Jagan Mohan Reddy did, KCR dismissed the idea, predicting that the Andhra Pradesh experiment would go kaput.
In Andhra Pradesh, the merger was an experiment. Nothing worthwhile happened there. I heard that a committee was appointed there and it would come up with a report after three or six months. Let us wait and see. God alone knows what will be the outcome of the committee,” says KCR.
When the elections are around the corner, KCR has changed his tack. The Cabinet has decided to merge TSRTC with the state government. The BRS leaders have plans to make the RTC workers celebrate the occasion.
The decision benefits over 43,378 RTC workers. They will also become state government employees. There would be no change in the profile of the TSRTC, but the employees would become state government employees.
The State Government remained tight-lipped on payment of dues to the tune of Rs 2,500 crore, inviting criticism from all quarters. The state government is required to pay Rs 500 crore PRC funds, SBT funds of Rs 500 crore, SRBS funds of Rs 500 crore, CCS funds of Rs 1150 crore to the RTC workers. But, the Cabinet did not discuss it at its meeting.
Who stopped the BRS government to not to take a decision to merge the TSRTC with the state government earlier, the opposition wondered.
